“Manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe. If a product injures someone, for whatever reason, the manufacturer should be held legally and financially accountable for the injury.”
The issue that manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe is a controversial one. On one hand, the onus lies with the product handling capabilities of the person who is in charge of the product. On the other hand, there is an issue of ownership and brand safety of the product by the manufacturer. In the final analysis, however, I feel that the onus of safety lies fairly and squarely with the person who is handling the product.
My chief reason for this belief is that every product comes with the usage, safety and handling instructions. These instructions carry a purpose, which is to ensure that the person handling the product should operate the product safely and in an appropriate manner. When the product is sold, the responsibility of reading the user manuals and using the product appropriately lies with the owner who has bought the product.
To exemplify the above point, let us think about a person who has bought a cordless phone from a foreign country where the standard operating voltage for a product is 100 V. This person comes back to his native country and tries to operate the cordless phone. Now the standard operating voltage in his native country is 220V. The moment the phone is switched on, the higher voltage will damage the phone and may even cause a physical injury to the person operating it. The person cannot blame the manufacturer in this case. The operating voltages are clearly written in the user manual accompanying the cordless phone.
Some people might say that the brand and the product is owned by the company and hence it should be held accountable for any damage caused. But, the question is, up to what extent? Legal cases, financial accountability? I believe, that this trend will set a wrong precedent as people might try to extract unjustified benefit from these situations.
Keeping all the above points in view, I concur that, the onus of safety and safe operation of the product lies with the person handling the product. The responsibility of the manufacturer lies with making the product as user friendly as possible so that all the safety instructions are well articulated.
- Paras 5
- Words 366
The issue that manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe is a controversial one. On one hand, the onus lies with the product handling capabilities of the person who is in charge of the product. On the other hand, there is an issue of ownership and brand safety of the product by the manufacturer. In the final analysis, however, I feel that the onus of safety lies fairly and squarely with the person who is handling the product.
My chief reason for this belief is that every product comes with the usage, safety and handling instructions. These instructions carry a purpose, which is to ensure that the person handling the product should operate the product safely and in an appropriate manner. When the product is sold, the responsibility of reading the user manuals and using the product appropriately lies with the owner who has bought the product.
To exemplify the above point, let us think about a person who has bought a cordless phone from a foreign country where the standard operating voltage for a product is 100 V. This person comes back to his native country and tries to operate the cordless phone. Now the standard operating voltage in his native country is 220V. The moment the phone is switched on, the higher voltage will damage the phone and may even cause a physical injury to the person operating it. The person cannot blame the manufacturer in this case. The operating voltages are clearly written in the user manual accompanying the cordless phone.
Some people might say that the brand and the product is owned by the company and hence it should be held accountable for any damage caused. But, the question is, up to what extent? Legal cases, financial accountability? I believe, that this trend will set a wrong precedent as people might try to extract unjustified benefit from these situations.
Keeping all the above points in view, I concur that, the onus of safety and safe operation of the product lies with the person handling the product. The responsibility of the manufacturer lies with making the product as user friendly as possible so that all the safety instructions are well articulated.
- Paras 5
- Words 366
