Design Implications of Product Liability

This article adopts the Juran concept of fitness for use which is defined and difficulties in achieving the ideal design are briefly mentioned. The author contends that insufficient attention to one aspect of design, product safety, has led to considerable consumer dissatisfaction and to the introduction of strict product liability in the USA and in Europe. Selective quotations from the EEC's Product Liability Directive are used to emphasise how product safety must be an essential component of the designer's brief. The paper concludes by noting that the design function is an important part of a comprehensive product liability prevention programme.