Investment return on improved product safety

It is asserted that designers and developers of products repeatedly make the same mistakes in developing new products or modifying older products for the marketplace. The major deficiency is one of not analyzing the elements of a system to identify safety-related design concepts, functions, or interfaces with other system components. The interface should include all personnel coming in contact with the product and the eventual end user of the product. The major conclusion which can be drawn from experience is that a very practical process of analysis in which a single analysis applied to each system element and then to the system as a whole will identify the hazards of the design, the functioning of the product, and the human interface. This analysis is relatively inexpensive to perform. The payback to the product developer is better public relations, less expense due to litigation and subsequent insurance increases, less risk of outlay of funds, and a higher, long-range return on development funds expended through increased sales