Determining the Need for and Creation of On-Product Warnings, Operator's Manuals, and Other Customer Communications

When a product hazard has been identified, either during the design process, or post-sale, and cannot be remedied through design or guarding, a warning must be communicated to the user.  Although there is no evidence that warnings are effective in changing behavior of the user, the company has a duty to provide notice of the hazard to the user and reasonable instructions on how to use the product safely.

The form of the label or instructions must be expected to catch the attention of the user.  Content of the warning must be comprehensible to the user, and convey a fair indication of the nature and extent of the danger.  Warnings cannot be created in a vacuum.  Rather, standards, such as ANSI Z535, require that certain steps, including comprehension testing, be followed.

Product Liability Solutions, LLC can assist your company in determining the need for, and creation of, warnings, and how to communicate such warnings to the user. In addition, Product Liability Solutions, LLC can review your company's existing user's manuals and sales literature to provide recommendations for insertion of warnings and instructions.

See Also:  Gathering, Handling of and Responding to Field Data

 

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