Product Safety

Product safety is an essential aspect of the design and deployment of any product into the marketplace.  Many manufacturers are aware of the requirements to have their product evaluated to national or international safety or performance standards (e.g. ASTM, ANSI, IEC, IEEE, NFPA, UL, SAE).  However, these standards are only the minimum requirements.

Companies need to go beyond meeting minimum product safety standards for two reasons: legal and financial.

Legal Aspects of Product Safety:

The US courts have ruled that a company that merely complies with the minimum product safety standards has done an insufficient job of evaluating the safety of their product.  The US and international courts have also ruled that companies that have been subjected to product safety recalls of their products must report these cases to other markets where the products are sold.

Financial Aspects of Product Safety:

If a company’s product is subjected to a recall, either forced by a government or voluntary because of a poor design, the company can struggle with market acceptance of current or future products.  This reduces the sales and profit potential of the company. 

Large companies can overcome the negative consequences associated with products that have poor safety records or that face product safety recalls.  But, at what costs too marketshare, earnings potential, or overall corporate image? 

Small and medium size companies typically do not have the financial resources to overcome poor product performance or product safety recalls.  These companies are usually required to liquidate, sell out, or are reduced to much smaller organizations.

To avoid product recalls or reduce product failures in general, the best method is comply with all relevant national and international standards regardless of where the product is being sold, to thoroughly review the design and performance attributes of the product, and to perform risk assessments on how the product is intended to be used and not used by the customer.