Shopping hazards ahead
Above: Michaela Hills of Whitehead Monckton
When we get our latest gizmo or gadget home, we can’t wait to open the box and play with the new, perfect product. Unfortunately, some goods or services may be faulty or defective, rendering them unsafe to be used.
This could be a bath mat with no suction pads, which slips from beneath a person, causing them to fall and hurt themselves. It could be a reaction to hair dye at a hairdresser’s, or defective equipment used in laser hair removal treatments, among many other things.
What do you do when something goes wrong and the product/service you have purchased causes an injury?
The Law
The law relating to product liability cases started to develop in the 1930s. In the past, it was necessary to show that a manufacturer had been negligent in order to succeed in a personal injury compensation claim.
However, current legislation removes the need to prove negligence and in addition, anyone who is injured can make a claim whether or not they were the buyers of the goods in question. The main UK legislation is the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the Product Liability (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 2001.
What do I have to prove?
The fact that an item is of poor quality does not necessarily mean that it is a defective product. This is determined when the safety of a manufactured item is below the standard that consumers are entitled to expect.
A court will enquire about how and when the item was marketed, what instructions/warnings were applied/given, the purpose for which it was originally supplied and purposes for which it was to be used.
A person needs to prove that the product is defective, either through its manufacture, marketing or design. They must demonstrate that the injury was caused due to the product having an “unreasonably dangerous” defect and that the product had not changed substantially from its original sales condition.
Who is responsible?
Anyone in a supply chain can be held responsible for damages, as they are legally obligated to provide a well-designed product that is reasonably safe when used as intended. This extends to the manufacturers of the goods and also to sellers of the products.
If a retailer sells you a product that is faulty and you are injured, it would be normal to bring a claim against the manufacturer. The manufacturer is legally liable to compensate users, buyers or even bystanders for any damage or injuries caused and suffered because of defects in products they have manufactured.
Manufacturers face a very high area of liability if products fail and cause harm, injury or distress. Disclaimers or warnings are irrelevant if personal injury arises.
The product need not have been purchased by yourself, it could have been a gift, and you would still be able to bring an action.
If a retailer sells you a product that is faulty and you are injured, a claim can be made direct against the retailer. You would have been privy to a contract of sale with the retailer. The old Sale of Goods Act 1977 provides for a breach of contract if the product purchased is of unsatisfactory quality.
What about food as a product?
The Consumer Protection Act also provides that all food should be safe to eat and that it must comply with a wide range of written product and process specification standards. All food products are subject to strict liability, which enables any consumer who suffers injury or illness as a result of a defective product which causes food poisoning to obtain compensation from the product provider. It is not necessary for the consumer to have brought the product themselves.
In addition, the Food Safety Act 1990 offers further protection in regards to food-related illnesses and injuries
Recent claims
The most innocuous items can result in product liability claims. As amazing as it may seem, the following recent product liability claims have been handled by Whitehead Monckton:
- Serious food poisoning caused by poorly cooked chicken
- Allergic reaction to nuts in food when chef had been advised of nut allergy
- Severe burns caused to a builder when the lime levels in concrete were too high
- Burns caused to a person by hair dye
- Bathmat slipping due to insufficient suction pads
- Burns caused by negligent hair removal treatment
- Injuries to mouth caused by fish hook left in a fish burger
- Defective kettle causing burns
- Defective bra causing chemical burns from leaking gel
Be carefully, that new product, service or plate of food might not be quite as safe as you think.
Profile
Michaela Hills specialises in claimant personal injury and clinical negligence cases. A graduate of Luton University, she worked as a paralegal assisting Litigants in Person, in the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) for three years, during which time she also studied for the Legal Practice Course at London Guildhall University.
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