Product Liability and The Engineer
Note: Last day of class ends at approximately 1:00 pm
In the past few decades, product liability law has dramatically changed the manufacturer's outlook in the design and manufacture of product. The concept of safety and reliability has been altered from a purely engineering/manufacturing concept to a legal/manufacturing approach. This new approach requires an understanding of legal concepts as related to the manufacturing and design process. The engineer's role has shifted to include a safety audit analysis to minimize the existence of a product defect and/or to defend the product in a way that is responsive to the legal concerns.An overnight assignment will be made by the instructor. It will consist of problems drawn from actual cases and a group project that examines the design, instructions, and warnings of a product.
What Will You Learn
By attending this seminar, you will be able to:
- Relate legal concepts as they apply to the manufacturing/design process
- Use safety audit analysis techniques to minimize or eliminate product defects during design, thus reducing product liability
- Discuss defense of product from a legal perspective
- Recognize the importance of potential liability as it relates to the manufacturer
Is This Course For You
Persons responsible for product design, including managers and designers;
corporate risk managers; persons responsible for developing and approving product
instructions and warnings; marketing personnel; production and quality assurance
managers and personnel; personnel responsible for product safety and those
persons, including lawyers, who oversee and manage product liability issues.
Materials Provided
This data is not available at this time
Course Requirements
This data is not available at this time
Topics
(Day two will end at approximately 1:00 p.m.)
- Legal Concepts
- Negligence: elements, defenses
- Strict liability: section 402A (elements, defenses)
- Warranties: express, implied
- Analysis of Defect
- Meaning of unreasonable danger
- Production defect
- Design defect
- Defect by words
- Designing for Reasonable Safety
- Products' use, users & environment
- Product safety audit
- The Role of Standards in Design
- Warnings
- Guidelines for design & warnings
- Functions & use
- Problem Analysis by Participants
- Review of a Product Design by Participants