PRODUCT LIABILITY

&
USABILITY
Rekayasa Keselamatan Kerja
2020
 SAFETY/LIABILITY
The responsibility of a manufacturer or vendor of goods 
to compensate for injury caused by defective 
merchandise that it has provided for sale.
BACKGROUND
 Industrial, commercial, and consumer
products are a major source of injuries and
death.
 Injuries parties frequently sue manufacturers
& those in the distribution chain for
compensation.
 Decisions & actions of engineers, managers
and others during planning, design,
manufacturing, distribution, and marketing
of a product can impact on its safety.
IN CONCURRENT ENGENEERING

(Dowlatshahi, 2001)
THEORIES OF LIABILITY
1. Warranty
 Performance of a product regarding
implied/explicit claims made for it by the
manufacturer/seller
2. Negligence
 Conduct/behavior of a person/corporate body,
something they did/failed to do so
3. Strict liability
 Characteristics of product that are
unreasonably dangerous
EARLY DEVELOPMENT
 From English common law, brought by
industrial revolution
 Previously, product liability was buyer
responsibility
 First success case: MacPherson vs Buick
Motor Company (1916) (defect on wheel)
“Without regard to a contract between buyer
and seller and when a buyer is not likely to check
a product for defects, the manufacturer of a
thing of danger has a duty to make it carefully”
PRODUCT'S CHAIN OF
DISTRIBUTION
 The product manufacturer;
 A manufacturer of component parts;
 A party that assembles or installs the
product;
 The wholesaler; and
 The retail store that sold the product to the
consumer.
PRODUCT LIABILITY EVIDENCE
 Product was defective
 Defect existed at the time it left the
defendant’s hands
 Defect caused the injury/harm & was
proximate to the injury
SUCCESS LAWSUIT
Stella Liebeck vs. McDonald’s, 1994, $2.7
million + $160,000 medical expenses
Coffee too hot

Remington rifle models 700 and 710, 1994,

$15 million
 Faulty fire control system

General Motors Co., 2014, $400 million for

deaths & injuries, %10 billion for lost
resale value
 Faulty ignition switches
DEFECTS
 Design defects

 Manufacturing defects

 Marketing defects
CONSUMER ORGANIZATION
 Indonesia:

 Worldwide:
WARNING SYSTEM
 Readability  Conspicuous
 Understanding  Durability
 Comprehensibility  Reliability
 Practicality  Reinforcement
 Effectiveness  Danger signal
 Behavior  Placement
modification  Novelty
 Compatibility  Type

(Peters, 1984)
REDUCING LIABILITY RISK
 Remove unreasonable dangers; Prevent defects
 Account for:
 environment,
 foreseeable misuses,
 product life,
 possible product modification,
 hazards,
 potential injury,
 seriousness of injury,
 compliance with standards,
 quality control,
 packaging,
 handling
REDUCING HAZARD
 Conduct thorough design review
 Involve engineers, attorneys, safety
professionals, etc in the design team
 Recruit review team (outside the design
process)
 USABILITY
Usability is a quality attribute that assesses
how easy user interfaces are to use.
COMPONENTS
 Errors:
How many errors do users make, how severe are these
errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
 Efficiency:
Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they
perform tasks?
 Learnability:
How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first
time they encounter the design?
 Satisfaction:
How pleasant is it to use the design?
 Memorability:
When users return to the design after a period of not using
it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?
TESTING
 Hallway testing
 Paper prototype, with
pre-post test
 Questionnaire
 Thinking aloud
 Expression judgement
 Eye tracking
 Expert review; heuristic
evaluation
 Utility = whether it provides the features
you need

 Usability = how easy & pleasant these

features are to use

 Useful = usability + utility