Types of Products Liability Claims

Products may be defective for a variety of reasons. These defects are typically categorized as either design defects, manufacturing defects, or warning defects:

Design Defects

A design defect claim is a claim brought against a manufacturer that alleges the product’s design or some aspect/feature of the product is defective and unreasonably dangerous. Design defects generally focus on the entire line of the product and not simply the product that actually injured the person. Design defects often occur when the engineering or design process used by a company to design a product is faulty, resulting in a product that is unnecessarily dangerous. In most design defect cases, the plaintiff will be required to demonstrate that there was a reasonable alternative design that the manufacturer could have implemented which would have prevented the injury and would not have substantially diminished the product's effectiveness. Design defects vary from product to product, but are often encountered with industrial equipment and machinery that is not equipped with adequate safety guards and mechanisms to prevent injury to workers.

A product that is defective by design is subject to product liability laws in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Manufacturing Defects

A manufacturing defect claim is a claim brought against a manufacturer where the specific product that caused injury was not manufactured or assembled as designed, or was otherwise flawed or out-of-spec. As the name indicates, manufacturing defects occur when there is a defect in the manufacturing process or assembly of a product that results in the product being defective and unreasonably dangerous. Manufacturing defects vary from product to product and case to case, but often occur when safety features or components of a product fail or do not work as intended.

A product that is defective because it was not assembled the way it was designed is subject to product liability laws in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and other states.

Warning Defects

A warning defect claim is a claim brought against a manufacturer due to the lack of, or insufficient nature of, warnings on a product. Each product poses different risks and dangers to the consumer. Some risks and dangers are inherent in the product and cannot be eliminated without diminishing the effectiveness of the product (i.e. chainsaw). Where there are dangers posed by a product, a manufacturer has a duty to warn consumers of those dangers – particularly those dangers which are not obvious. To be effective, product warnings must be conspicuous and thoroughly warn users of the dangers associated with the use of the product and the risk posed by failing to abide by those warnings.

Simply put, not all products can be expected to be 100% safe, but manufacturers are expected to warn consumers of any danger the product poses with normal use.

Products without warnings, or with insufficient warnings, are subject to product liability laws in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey.

See also: Product Liability Overview | Dangerous & Defective Drugs