Product Safety/Product Liability Prevention
- Cal Burnton - Cal Burnton is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. He has earned a national reputation for coordinating, managing, and defending complex product liability and mass toxic tort cases with a special emphasis on high-risk matters involving novel legal, scientific, and environmental theories. Over his more than 30-year career, Mr. Burnton has litigated and won numerous complex product liability cases for leading manufacturers and sellers of products such as health care appliances, medical devices, electrical equipment, firearms, printing presses, industrial machinery, and power tools. He is also a trusted counselor to his clients, advising them on issues regarding product liability, product safety and related matters. Throughout the years, he has represented corporate clients in both federal and state courts in almost every state in the nation. He is also a frequent lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and has presented seminars on product liability issues in Japan and in England for various insurance companies. Mr. Burton's thorough knowledge of the legal issues surrounding product liability combine with his extensive litigation experience to make him an invaluable asset to many of Clarion's customers requiring council. Mr. Burnton can be reached at cburnton@Steptoe.com.
- Lewis Bass International, Inc. – This firm provides legal and safety engineering consulting services to large and small companies around the world. Lewis Bass International and its associates work with companies in industries as diverse as food processing, medical devices, semiconductor equipment, and a wide array of consumer products. Their staff routinely evaluates products for regulatory compliance, potential hazards and liability risk. Based on performing hazard analysis and risk assessment, Lewis Bass International provides its clients with recommendations for the content and placement of their warnings. They often provide training programs to companies in the areas of product safety, risk assessment, and product liability reduction. They also assist manufacturers, insurance companies, and defense council to defend product liability litigation. The founder of the firm, Lewis Bass, is the author of Product Liability: Design and Manufacturing Defects (2nd Edition, West Group).
- Coronado Consulting Services, LLC - Provides consulting and training to companies to improve their product warnings and instructions. With over 25 years of experience in the field, Dr. Patricia A. Robinson, owner of Coronado Consulting, can help your company identify potential product hazards and develop solutions to address them to improve safety and reduce product liability exposure. Services offered include comprehensive warnings audits, state-of-the-art warnings design and testing, evaluation and critique of instructions and manuals, and in-plant product safety training and consulting. Pat is the principal author of Writing and Designing Manuals (3rd Edition, CRC Press), an excellent reference for developing product manuals.
- Kenneth Ross - Kenneth Ross is one of the most experienced and well-known lawyers practicing in the areas of product safety, product liability prevention and regulatory compliance. He is affiliated with one of the premier product liability defense firms in the United States, Bowman and Brooke LLP. Mr. Ross has helped companies analyze risk and develop adequate warnings and instructions for more than 30 years. In addition, he has lectured and written extensively in this area, including co-authoring one of the early warnings compliance manuals while he was a lawyer at Westinghouse Electric. Mr. Ross has also provided legal advice regarding the testing of warning labels and has helped several industries create industry-wide labeling systems. On his Product Liability Prevention website, you can access Mr. Ross' recent articles on safety management, warnings, recalls, and other safety-related subjects.
- Randall L. Goodden - Author of two best-selling books about product liability prevention (available through Amazon), Randall Goodden routinely offers public seminars with a cast of experts at major cities across the country, as well as in-house seminars for a company’s entire corporate safety/liability prevention team. Mr. Goodden has served as the keynote speaker at some of the largest product liability and defense conferences in the U.S. and Europe. And his training seminars are used by some of the largest corporations in the world. Mr. Goodden’s latest book is “Lawsuit! Reducing the Risk of Product Liability for Manufacturers” (1st Edition, Wiley).
Human Factors and Product Safety
- Applied Safety and Ergonomics – For assistance in understanding the characteristics of your intended audience and applying those traits to the design of your product’s labels and manual, this firm can help. Applied Safety and Ergonomics works with a diverse range of industries and performs technical consultations in areas such as product safety, human factors, warnings, risk communication, and occupational safety and industrial ergonomics.
CE Compliance / Testing
- TÜV SÜD Product Service - TÜV SÜD is an international testing and certification organization providing global approvals that help companies access and excel in the global marketplace. A European Union Notified and Competent Body, TÜV provides comprehensive inspection and certification support services including CE Marking assistance, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), CB Scheme certification, electrical/mechanical and functional safety testing. A top-ten registrar in the U.S., Europe and Asia, TÜV also offers ISO 9000, ISO 14001, QS-9000, ISO/TS 16949, AS9000, TE Supplement, VDA 6.1, EN 46000 and ISO 13485/88 certification.
- Intertek Testing Services (ITS) - Intertek offers manufacturers, distributors, retailers, commodity producers and government agencies services related to the testing, inspection and certification of products. Its brand and trade names are recognized worldwide. Intertek maintains laboratories and field offices in 61 locations on three continents, including 37 in North America, six in Europe, and 18 in Asia. ITS Laboratories provide manufacturers with worldwide market access through its services. Depending on the services rendered, products can bear the ETL Listed Mark, Warnock Hershey Certification Mark, the SEMKO S mark, the German GS Mark, CE Marking for Europe, and the NOM Mark for Mexico.
- TÜV Rheinland - TÜV Rheinland is committed to providing comprehensive appraisals and inspections of technical facilities and products for its customers. Specialists on their staff are available for rendering advisory services in the investigation of technical safety questions. TÜV Rheinland also provides services to governmental agencies and private manufacturing and exporting organizations in both national and international markets.
Documentation Providers
- Global Engineering Documents - Global Engineering Documents is a division of IHS Engineering, which provides hardcopy and electronic versions of technical standards and documents.
- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), is located in NYC and sells hardcopy and electronic versions of its standards on line.
Risk Assessment
- The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) offers the ASSE Risk Assessment Institute, established to become the gateway for occupational safety and health professionals to develop new risk assessment core competencies, share best practices, and access the latest risk-based information, metrics, tools, and research for both career advancement and the improvement of organizational effectiveness.
- Bruce Main, a professional engineer and certified safety professional, is president of Design Safety Engineering, Inc. (DSE) a company that specializes in the risk assessment process and improving safety through design. Through software, training, and consulting, DSE helps companies identify hazards and reduce risks to an acceptable level.
- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) offers information on machine risk assessment standards, as well as easy access to purchase relevant standards, including ANSI Z10, ISO 31000 and ISO 31010.
Laser Safety Labels
- Bill Janssen is a Certified Laser Safety Officer (Board of Laser Safety) and offers consulting services for laser safety labels. He is also a member of the Laser Institute of America, the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, and the ANSI Z136 Safe Use of Lasers (series) technical and standards subcommittees. Mr. Janssen can be reached at bjanssen@att.net.