Product Liability – A Crisis of Disintegration of the Manufacturer?
Every manufacturer of products is potentially exposed to liability associated with claims that the products, are either non-compliant with regulatory provisions or are in one way or the other defective and may or may not result in injury.
Introduction
No manufacturer wants to deal with the issues arising from product liability due to the wide range of impacts it could have on its business including but not limited to loss of customers or in extreme cases a total shut down of the business. In this article, we shall be looking at product liability through the twin prism of litigation and regulatory intervention, the crisis it portends to manufacturers, the exposure, and how they can mitigate such exposure and/or manage the crisis.
Product Liability: What Is It?
Product liability can be described as that area of the law that seeks to hold
accountable manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public for the injuries those products inflict on consumers or users. It is the body of principles of the law as found in the statute books and case law that govern the liability of manufacturers/sellers for the injuries/losses caused by defects in their products to consumers and the public at large.