Transcript Product Liability and Safety

Product Liability and Safety
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In design
In manufacturing
In marketing
In Design
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Plan for safety as a requirement
 Fire, explosion,electrocution,
contamination,...
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Design reviews for safety
Demonstrate an attitude of concern
Design Reviews for Safety
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It’s not good enough just to
make it work
Follow established standards
 ANSI, NEC, NESC, UL, IEEE,
etc.
Demonstrate an Attitude of
Concern
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Safety analysis
 Preliminary Hazard Analysis, Failure Modes and
Effects Analysis, Fault Tree Analysis, etc.
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Identify high energy systems
 Danger! HIGH VOLTAGE
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Identify critical systems
 Failures in what subsystems/components will
cause catastrophic failure.
Safety Analysis
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Each system
Each subsystem
Each board
Each component
Single-point
Multipoint
Identify High Energy Systems
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Guard
Isolate
Monitor heat
Alarm systems
Warn when you can’t avoid
Identify Critical Systems
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Controls
Power to controls
Power to life support
Electrical grounding
Make redundant
Make robust
Make fail-safe
In Manufacturing
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Quality assurance
Quality control
Incoming parts
Procedures followed
Systems going out
 Functional testing
 Safety testing
In Marketing
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Warnings as a last resort
 Surgeon General’s warning
Incorporate human factors engineering
 Ergonomics
Attorney
 Intentional - knowingly and deliberately
– Ford Pinto
 Negligent - didn’t know, but insufficient safety
considerations
– no life support backup systems
 Reckless - not intentional, but knowingly
– Challenger