IJCA - Volume I - Flipbook - Page 50
50 The International Journal of Conformity Assessment
Author Bio
William T. “Bill” Fiske serves as the director of technical affairs at Intertek
Testing Services in Cortland, New York, where he has been employed
since 1977. He received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering
from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is a registered professional
engineer in Louisiana, New York, and Texas. He is a Life Senior Member of
IEEE and a member of ASQ, NFPA, and SES.
Bill participates heavily in standards development, being a member of
the National Electrical Code (NEC) Correlating Committee and NEC Panel
14 (hazardous locations), and chairs the NFPA Committee on Electrical
Equipment in Chemical Atmospheres. In addition, he serves on the USNC/
IEC Technical Management Committee, U.S. National Committee of IECEx,
IEC TC 31 Maintenance Team 60079-2, and many UL Standards Technical
Panels.
Bill received the 1906 Award from the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) in 2012, the ANSI Meritorious Service Award in 2014,
and the NFPA Committee Service Award in 2020..
2022 | Volume 1, Issue 1
51
DOI: 10.55459/IJCA/v1i1/GG
Leveraging Quality Management Systems to Prevent
Product Liabilities
By Gilbert Gong, Ph.D., President of Institute of Global Certification (IGC) and
President of Global Personnel Certification Co., Ltd. (GPC)
Abstract
Introduction
Manufacturing companies should consider the
liabilities for their products because the Product
Liability Act is recognized as a global standard and,
as such, is an inevitable reality in our industrial world.
Accidents, incidents, and failures of products will
inevitably occur in the system of mass production,
mass distribution, and mass consumption. However,
companies should not have to be afraid of incidents
developing into lawsuits when distributing products
to the market.
The Product Liability Act is recognized as a global
standard and its implementation is an inevitable
reality in our industrial world. For companies,
product liability accidents should not happen, but
if they do, necessary countermeasures should be
in place. Leveraging quality management systems
should be a top priority to prevent product liabilities.
The premise of this paper is to share how proactive
companies can prepare countermeasures to prevent
product liability accidents from happening and/
or effectively address any accidents, incidents, or
product failures that do occur. At the management
level, the top priority should be to prepare Product
Liability Prevention (PLP) and Product Liability
Defense (PLD) systems.
Implementing an effective quality management can
be a good control method to prevent and defend
against product liabilities. To maximize the quality
management system’s capabilities, an organization
should be restructured and given more opportunities
for training as well as expanded manpower. (All
activity results should be recorded for evidentiary
purposes in case of a lawsuit.) To enhance product
control measures, a testing and measurement system
should be introduced under the concept of state-ofthe-art technology. If a company cannot handle the
testing and measurement of products in-house, it
can enlist the help of an external organization.
With effective prevention and defense systems in
place for product liability matters, manufacturing
organizations stand a better chance of being
successful and long-lasting in the global marketplace.
Keywords: Product Liability Act, product liabilities,
quality management system, small and midsize
enterprises, product liability litigation, liability response,
countermeasures, ISO 9001
1. Preparing Countermeasures for the Enforcement
of the Product Liability Act for Small and Midsize
Enterprises.
In the system of mass production, mass distribution,
and mass consumption, accidents inevitably occur.
There is no way to prevent lawsuits from being filed
after such incidents, and companies should not be
afraid of dealing with lawsuits when distributing
products to the market. The important thing is
to prepare comprehensive defensive measures
that can help win legal trials. When it comes to
product safety best practices, instead of focusing
on crafting a product liability defense, small and
midsize enterprises should do their utmost to avoid
distributing defective products.
If a large compensation lawsuit is filed, and since
the manufacturer has already been sued, what a
company can do in a trial is quite limited. Since
the legal response is a specialized and difficult
procedure, it is more efficient to use lawyers with
ample experience in product liability litigation in
order to legally evaluate the company’s position
and reflect it in the trial. However, although there is
much dependence on lawyers, it is the company—
not the lawyer—that makes the final decision in
various situations in the trial. In addition, promoting
litigation defense measures as part of establishing
preventive countermeasures on product liability
is very helpful to companies. Therefore, it is most
important not only to acquire legal knowledge
or accumulate experience for litigation defense,
but also to identify matters that companies must
implement in relation to product safety through
discussions and precedents in court and include
them in their product safety activities.
