Designing for Safety

The key to manufacturing, selling and/or insuring a safe product is establishing a product safety policy and procedure.  This formalizes the safety process and provides the framework of consistency for engineering, manufacturing, quality, sales, customer service, insurance and virtually every department within the organization.

The first step in designing for safety is the identification of hazards and risks associated with the product during the design phase.  Various tools, such as Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), can be used for this purpose.  A hazard probability vs. hazard severity matrix can also identify what the level of acceptable risk is for the company.  Once this is established, then the design process continues with incorporation of supplier quality, industry standards (such as ISO and ANSI), governmental regulatory compliance (such as OSHA), and ergonomic, performance and reliability testing.  Field-testing and customer feedback are also valuable tools to detect problems prior to production.

Product Liability Solutions, LLC can assist your organization in establishing a comprehensive product safety program to ensure a safe product, documented compliance with requirements and validated field acceptance.

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