You are not going to get a clear answer. You liability is a probability calculation, no a yes or no answer. You can provide an attendant to personally warn users as they do the wrong thing and still have liability. If your product is attractive enough to distract someone's glance as they walk through a second story window, they have the right to sue you no matter how your product is designed. How much you are liable depends on the jury, how much money you have, your legal defense and a lot of other things unrelated to the product.
Getting down to your question, I am unaware of the exclamation in a triangle label being part of any lawsuit. You will have to use judgment about your application. If you are using it to prevent electrocution, you are on pretty thin ice. If you are using it to prevent minor burns, you might be OK. What's the probability and damage from misuse? Keep in mind an auto manufacturer who lost an unbuckled seat belt suit in spite of the presence of five labels in sight of the passenger. Labels aren't much defense. >As a manufacturer, are we covered from any liability as a >result of the user not being aware of what the symbol means? No >Do we assume that users know to refer to the manual when >they see that symbol? No >Are there any court cases that have set precedents on this >issue or related safety marking issues? Yes, Definitive answers? No. Your lawyer can provide case law. If you have to ask, you should reconsider. Bob Johnson ITE Safety From: owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org [mailto:owner-emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org] On Behalf Of Joe P Martin Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 2:47 PM To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject: Product Safety Symbol Legalities Greetings, A common product safety symbol, the exclamation point within a triangle, is used to refer the user to the manual. General questions: As a manufacturer, are we covered from any liability as a result of the user not being aware of what the symbol means? Do we assume that users know to refer to the manual when they see that symbol? Are there any court cases that have set precedents on this issue or related safety marking issues? Any personal experiences? All responses are greatly appreciated. Regards Joe Martin Applied Biosystems marti...@appliedbiosystems.com This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: emc_p...@symbol.com For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: emc_p...@symbol.com For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieeecommunities.org/emc-pstc
