ReEducate, ReEngineer, ReTool

SUMMARY REPORT:

PLP&D WINTER WORKSHOP — JANUARY 24–25, 2002

The following is a report for the WMIA from the Winter Workshop of the Product Liability Prevention and Defense Group that was held in Tampa, FL. There were many topics presented during the two-day workshop with a far ranging variety of helpful points that may be useful for the prevention and reduction of product liability risks. Lance Thrall attended this meeting on January 24, & 25, 2002 and reports the following.

Basically, manufacturers are obligated to address the three theories for handling hazards. These theories include: (1) eliminate the hazard (2) guard against the hazard (3) warn against the hazard. Of course the plaintiff's attorney is going to try to find weaknesses within these three points, and how the manufacturer approaches them.

It was suggested to have a good document review of all of the safety programs, warning decals, operating instructions, technical files and documents, and any items that may support the efforts that a company is making for safe operation of its machines. This information is also very useful in determining insurance cost by the insurance provider. Generally, the insurance company will be very interested in all of this information so that they can determine a level of risk that needs to be addressed.

Underwriters/carriers care. Generally, underwriters would be interested in seeing a company's certifications for safety, their training programs, a review of loss history, and also be aware of the company philosophy. A strong, good safety presentation often helps to reduce rates for insurance, while improving the relationship between insurer and the insured.

Several attorneys presented information and recommendations concerning liability issues and insurance. The attorneys recommended that companies carefully review their product liability insurance. It should be determined whether self-insured risk be considered within the insurance fee schedule. It was said that perhaps good insurance coverage might be more important than winning a case!

The wood industry's combined effort to create a catalog for wood safety warning decals is still valid (Hazard Communication Systems — U.S. and International Safety Signs Woodworking Industry). This continues to be a good source for users in the wood industry, and also continues to demonstrate leadership in this important area.

The latest U.S. and International Safety Sign and Label Catalog, a warning decal label book, is published by Hazard Communications Systems (Geoff Peckham). This catalog is available on line at www.safetylabel.com.

A point concerning warning decals...Many companies feel that they already have too many warning labels on their machine. The attorneys present said that it may be O.K. not to add any more warning decals if their basic effectiveness is lost by over warning. A safety meeting and review, basically documenting the decision that it was done for the right reasons, should support this.

Mr. Geoffrey Peckham of Hazard Communications Systems made a presentation concerning ANSI Z-535 standards for warning decals. Mr. Peckham has worked with us in the past in preparing a safety and warning catalog for the woodworking industry, which is available on this site. His company's website is located at www.safetylabel.com. This site has a variety of very useful information.

For warnings the international standards are getting closer to each other. Key words used in safety warnings and labels are used for specific situations. One such point is the use of "Danger" as being related to the likelihood that an event "will" happen if the warning is not heeded, whereas the use of "Warning" indicates a possibility that an event "may" happen.

Warning labels affixed to machines do work!

Great Idea!

Geoff Peckham pointed out that as mentioned on page 22 in his newest catalog, U.S. & International Safety Sign & Label Catalog, a good practice is to send a safety reminder with all parts shipments from your company. The use of a paper card printed with a warning, either included in a shipping carton, or wired to the replacement part, is a reminder of a company's responsibility for safety. The card is printed with a warning that all guards, interlocks and other safety devices should be restored and operational. This reminder seems to be very worthwhile in preventing possible accidents and reducing your company's liability exposure.

On Page 23 there was a safety instruction with suggested lockout procedures.

Mr. Peckham (Geoff) has offered to accept a sample package of warning decals for review from any WMIA company that chooses to receive his view of the effectiveness of the warning decals and to see if they meet the safety compliance of the ANSI Z-535 directives for the year 2002. He has agreed to do this at no charge as a courtesy and of course, will make recommendations as appropriate.

As before, defense attorneys continue to warn clients that there is a big difference between being deposed, and going to trial. Again, it was reiterated that during deposition one should always tell the truth, answer questions asked, and not volunteer any information. (Volunteered information typically creates three new questions.) Finally, do not argue the case during deposition. That is left for trial.

In addition to reading materials some videos or CD ROMs could be included which pertain to conduct during product liability efforts of a company. Two such videos, specifically recommended are available through www.commonwealthfilms.com. "When Products Harm" and "You're Going To Be Deposed" were highly recommended for preparation of the discovery process, deposition and trial.

One of the presenting attorneys did mention that for every "sleazy" plaintiff attorney, there is a "sleazy" plaintiff expert engineer.

Depositions of company officials and plaintiffs in other cases can be used in future litigations, no matter how unfair it may be. This is another reason not to contribute to longer or more detailed depositions.

During trial cases, it was stated that the costs to produce effective warning decals is so low that the plaintiff attorneys often bring that point up during trial as an argument that it should have been done. It was recommended to document that warning decals are in place on the machine. Another source of information is the OSHA web page — www.osha.gov.

It was suggested that it is appropriate and a good idea to get "tough" in good cases.

It was pointed out that the plaintiff's attorneys have learned how to use the Internet very well. They are able to research engineering standards and codes and can in many cases be very well prepared.

An important point made was the absolute necessity of being knowledgeable about product liability risks and its prevention. There are several sources of information that may help a company strengthen its position against undue risk. It is highly recommended that a company have a complete library of important safety documents available to staff as study tools, and reference manuals. Such a library should include those standards, codes, and recommendations for the woodworking engineer specifically, and would include ANSI recommendations (ANSI warnings Z-535) and the National Electrical Code (Standards 29CFR Parts 1910) as well as the guidelines of OSHA.

A good place for information concerning safety and standards would be www.schmersalusa.com and/or www.ab.com (an Allen Bradley company with a good safety section) and/or www.squared.com and/or www.sea.siemens.com. Another safety Internet source is www.bannerengineering.com

It was also mentioned that some colleges and universities offer product liability legal courses. One such learning center is the University of Wisconsin, which provides a variety of legal courses, typically 2-3 days in length, and relatively inexpensive. www.dcs.wisc.edu/pda/online/hsl.htm.

Going back to building the library we will add some more points for building that engineers reference library. The reference library should have a book on "Code of ethics for Engineers". The National Society of Professional Engineers has produced and maintained a code of ethics which began in 1946 and was under development as early as 1935.

Recommended sources are available through McGraw Hill Professional at www.books.mcgraw-hill.com which makes available many documents and books supporting these efforts. One such reference source is The Chemical Engineers Handbook. It was noted that the plaintiff's council often likes to cite points out of this book.

Electrical Motor Controls by Gary Rockus and Glen Mazur, covering motors, controls and the processes (available through www.amazon.com)

Marks Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers (www.amazon.com)

A copy of the National Electrical Code is a good handbook with commentary throughout. The National Electrical Code does describe lockout, tag out which is good protection for a manufacturer, but it is a customer's responsibility to develop and implement such a program.

Also an included good reading for this library would be The 7 Good Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.

A good source of safety information is www.controleng.com, www.designfax.net, and www.designnews.com. This mentions CE Certification from Europe including good operator maintenance guides. (See also www.osha.gov.)

ANSI/ASME B15.1-1992 is still the base line safety standards for the US. ANSI Z-535 pertains to safety labels, while ANSI/ASME B20.1-1993 is for conveyors.

It was strongly recommended to back up and describe (explain) warning decals and their use within the safety or operators manual. It continues to be a good idea to participate in a mass-mailing program to one's customer base to include safety information, warning decal availabilities, and to summarize any recently created safety programs, training schools, and things of that nature.

There is an annex with translated signal words for 2002 as part of the ANSI Z535 regulations. This may be helpful for anyone who wants to provide safety-warning decals in different languages. It is now acceptable to use a translation of the signal words for protection in English, Spanish, and/or French.

During this workshop there was a discussion that a machine is an element of a bigger system (customer equipment and facility). This means that the customer has knowledge of the system and also knowledge of the controls for the system. The customer should do a hazard analysis of this system. Look and work to move hazards and system operational conflicts. An especially important point to be aware of is — if a particular manufactured machine is used in a fashion not originally envisioned by the manufacturer, or that it is linking to other systems that may inadvertently spoil some of the safety designs and operations of the original machine a new risk may exist. The manufacturer should be alert to this situation.

It has been noted and mentioned that interlocks may not be particularly effective or useful if the protected guard is rarely opened or removed — such as a back cover that is bolted on to protect a rotating pulley, as example. In this case the sensing switch as part of the interlock system may be rarely tested, and then fail. A warning decal saying "Use lockout / tagout" may be very helpful for good defense posture.

In some cases interlocks and their operation may be spoiled by the connection of one machine to another ancillary or auxiliary device. We should say that within the operator's manual — Interlocks should be tested often. The operator's manual should point out safety items and features (This is especially important if a particular device is not easily understood to be a safety device). If the machine is equipped with a set-up mode, then there should be a warning decal, and it should be mentioned in the operator's manual that there are differences in the machine operation while it is in the set-up mode.

If the use of an interlock in a particular area of a machine may not be helpful or practical, then it should be argued and discussed and noted as a carefully made decision, not to put an interlock in that position. It may be helpful to review the deposition video mentioned earlier in this writing.

Interlocks are very important during product liability efforts for defense. Everyone within the company should understand how they are used and why. OSHA 1910-212 has requirements for interlocks.

The above points may prove helpful to strengthen one's product liability and prevention program. This writer did appreciate attending this session and recommends attendance by others.

Respectfully Submitted,

Lance T. Thrall
Michael Weinig, Inc. — Vice President