14Chapter

• The producer’s environment is governed by three sets of influences:

  • The market through consumer behavior

  • Government regulation

    • through design standards that influence the technology or by addressing observed product defects

  • Tort liability

    • Operates ex post facto

Main mechanisms influencing Product safety

• Consumer’s potential for muting safety device benefits

• The “Lulling effect”

• Effect of consumer’s perception on safety device efficacy

A group-based pricing

• Such a group-based pricing provides a disincentive for firms at the high end of the market

  • because their safety efforts will not be rewarded.

  • They will be sharing the benefits of safety with all of the other firms in the market

• Economic mechanisms:

  • Providing warranties

  • Informational efforts such as ratings provided by government agencies and by consumer groups

ISO

• ISO has developed over 19 000 International Standards on a variety of subjects and more than 1000 new ISO standards are published every year. 

• ISO 14001:2004 Environmental management systems 

• ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on social responsibility

• ISO 31000:2009 Risk management -- Principles and guidelines

• ISO 9001:2008 Quality management systems

• ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are among ISO's most well known standards ever.

• They are implemented by more than a million organizations in some 175 countries.

• ISO 9001 helps organizations to implement quality management.

• ISO 14001 helps organizations to implement environmental management.

• ISO 9001 is for quality management.

• Quality refers to all those features of a product (or service) which are required by the customer.

• Quality management means what the organization does to

• ensure that its products or services satisfy the customer's quality requirements and

• comply with any regulations applicable to those products or services.

• Quality management also means what the organization does to

• enhance customer satisfaction, and

• achieve continual improvement of its performance.

• ISO 14001 is for environmental management. This means what the organization does to:

• minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities,

• to conform to applicable regulatory requirements, and to

• achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance.

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are generic standards.

Generic means that the same standards can be applied:

• to any organization, large or small, whatever its product or service,

• in any sector of activity, and

• whether it is a business enterprise, a public administration, or a government department.

• Management system means what the organization does to manage its processes, or activities in order that

• its products or services meet the organization’s objectives, such as

• satisfying the customer's quality requirements,

• complying to regulations, or

• meeting environmental objectives

• ISO 9001 gives the requirements for what the organization must do to manage processes affecting quality of its products and services.

ISO 14001 gives the requirements for what the organization must do to manage processes affecting the impact of its activities on the environment

• Certification is known in some countries as registration.

• It means that an independent, external body has audited an organization's management system and verified that it conforms to the requirements specified in the standard (ISO 9001 or ISO 14001).

• ISO does not carry out certification and does not issue or approve certificates,

• Accreditation is like certification of the certification body.

• It means the formal approval by a specialized body - an accreditation body - that a certification body is competent to carry out ISO 9001:2008 or ISO 14001:2004 certification in specified business sectors.

• Certificates issued by accredited certification bodies - and known as accredited certificates - may be perceived on the market as having increased credibility.