This website was established and is maintained by Kenneth Ross, one of the world's leading practitioners in Product Liability Prevention (PLP). Ken has been providing advice in PLP, product safety, and regulatory compliance for over 30 years to companies all over the world. Ken is a former partner and now Of Counsel to one of the country's premier product liability defense firms, Bowman and Brooke LLP.
PLP is related to risk management and loss control. It deals with techniques designed to identify, quantify, minimize and manage legal and practical risks in product liability and contractual liability for manufacturers of all tiers and all those in the supply chain no matter where they make or sell their product.
Not managing risk properly can result in several unwanted consequences. Liability claims and lawsuits can tarnish your product's reputation, to say nothing of your bottom line. Increases in business disputes, increases in insurance premiums or lowering of insurance coverage, lessened customer and supplier goodwill, recalls and problems with government agencies can also result. And product liability has gone global, thereby raising the possibility of huge global safety, regulatory, contractual, and product liability problems involving the manufacturer and everyone in the supply chain.
While not all risks can be prevented, manufacturers and other entities in the supply chain need to proactively - before their products and services are sold - apply good risk management techniques to what they and others in the supply chain are doing. And, manufacturers must then carefully track the performance of their products in customer's and product user's hands to identify post-sale problems and take any appropriate corrective actions.
Basically, PLP injects into the design, manufacturing and marketing processes, policies and procedures to be used by company personnel who are familiar with product liability and the ways in which the potential for such liability can be minimized or reduced. In addition, product safety regulations have proliferated around the world. PLP ensures that the entity is aware of and complies with any applicable regulations. The idea is to anticipate future challenges to the product and future safety problems and minimize or eliminate that risk before sale.
PLP will also help to create a defense if there is a problem and the product's safety is challenged by a plaintiff or a government agency. These post-sale procedures include preparing to monitor and track products after sale and finding them if a recall is necessary.
This website describes Ken's background and the services he provides [see printable bio] and then provides links to many of his articles. He will add new articles written by him and others to this website. In addition, Ken is providing various product safety documents or links to the documents and links to other resources in this area. He will continue to update the PLP Resources page.
Articles published from 2015-2017 added to website in January 2018 (see Articles tab)
CPSC Mandates Safety Programs for Manufacturers and Retailers - 2015
When Does an Industrial Product Become a Consumer Product - April 2015 and January 2017
The Safety Hierarchy - May 2015
The Role of Product Instructions in Product Liability Prevention - May 2015
Post-sale Safety Improvements - Good Idea? - August 2015
Contracts 101 for Product Liability Defense Lawyers - November 2015
Product Liability and the Effect of OSHA and Workers' Compensation Laws - November 2015
Product Liability Warnings and Instructions - May 2016
Can Social Media Help Satisfy the Manufacturer's Pre-sale and Post-sale Duty to Warn - October 2016 and May 2017
Preparing for and Implementing Product Recalls - October 2017