Business 6600 Essay 500-600 Words, APA, 3 References
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Select a product liability concern for a particular industry proposed by one of your peers.Search for information about how firms in that industry are responding to these concerns.Discuss what you think the pros and cons are of their response; and how their response might be improved.
YOU MUST USE THIS AS THE PRODUCT CONCERN FROM MY PEERS: (Below is the discussion board from one of my peers that I must respond to with the above question)
Product Liability has become a hot topic in the business world due to the negligence of companies when producing goods. By definition, product liability holds businesses liable for harm that results from the production, design, or inadequate warnings of products they market (Nickels, et al., 2013). Businesses are not doing the proper research and development to find the defects in their products and the consequences have caused billion dollar lawsuits against some companies.
I was previously employed as salesman at a Toyota forklift company and product liability was a number one concern. Forklifts must be handled by individuals with proper training due to the dangers of faulty operation of these vehicles. Forklifts are designed rear heavy so that the weight can counteract whatever materials you plan on lifting with the forks. All forklifts have a weight capacity, meaning that you must know the approximate weight of the items you are lifting so you can choose the correct forklift for that job. Many forklift users ignore this capacity and try to lift items that may be too heavy and cause the forklift to tip over. User error is the biggest current and future concern of forklift producers.
Earlier this year, Toyota escaped a $9million liability lawsuit in Arizona. In this case, Toyota sold a forklift to Republic Plastics Inc. with two forks installed to its mast. The company replaced the two forks with side shifting metal paddles that are used for bulkier loads such as barrels. Once those side shifters are added, the capacity that the forklift can hold decreases. The employee claims he had no load on the front and he put the lift in reverse and the forklift tipped over. As the forklift tipped over, the employee tried to escape the accident but the vehicle ended up falling onto him, crushing his pelvis. In the suit, Republic Plastic claims that no one at Toyota ever stated the capacity difference when adding these side shifters. Toyota claimed had Republic Plastic informed them of how they would be using the forklift, they would have gladly recommended them a bigger, higher capacity lift. This would have created a bigger sale for Toyota. The jury found that Republic Plastic had been using this particular vehicle for the past 5 years without incident and that the user must’ve been in reckless operation.
