May 9, 1996

Ergonomist Offers Advice to Make Consumers Safety Smart

A sudden rainstorm can spoil the fun of a cookout, but it's not a reason to take the propane gas grill indoors to finish cooking the burgers and dogs.

According to Dr. Richard G. Pearson, a professor of industrial engineering who specializes in ergonomics at North Carolina State University, some people actually do that--and risk their lives and their property. If they took the time to read the warning label on the propane tank, however, they would leave the coals to fizzle in the rain.

Pearson, who teaches product safety issues, serves as a consultant to attorneys around the country engaged in products liability-related litigation. Many of those lawsuits could be avoided if manufacturers provided well-designed, explicit warnings and consumers read and heeded them.

Pearson and others in his field focus on finding the best ways to capture a consumer's attention and reinforce warnings.

"The more we keep reminding people of the hazards, the more likely they will change their behavior in accord with the warning," says Pearson. "And this is what we're trying to do--change people's behavior."

To point out those hazards, ergonomists who design warnings focus on five basic elements: words, pictorials, size, color and location. These elements are designed and combined to attract the user's attention and provide information about hazards. For example, a pictorial element might warn about electric shock by depicting a lightning bolt hitting a hand.

Pearson says consumers should be aware that manufacturers cannot warn against every conceivable hazard and thus must strike a balance between overinforming and insulting consumers, and underinforming and not providing adequate warnings. Toothpicks, for example, are everyday items that can cause injury but are generally safe and do not require warnings. Other items, such as household cleaning agents, may need conspicuous and detailed warnings to prevent tragic accidents.

Consumers can become safety savvy, Pearson says, by taking the following measures to protect themselves:

• Read instruction manuals and follow all safety precautions before operating or using the product. Though labels on the product itself can alert consumers to a hazard, the manuals often explain the hazard and its consequences more thoroughly, give details on how to avoid the hazard, and indicate steps to take if a problem occurs.

• Keep a file of user manuals for all products. Pearson suggests organizing these by types of products, e.g., lawn and garden, kitchen, bathroom, workshop, etc. When buying used products, also ask for the manual or call the manufacturer and request a replacement manual.

• Don't be discouraged by a long and tedious warning label, such as those on propane gas grills. The information, even if written in excessive detail and convoluted language, could alert consumers to risks and precautions they have not considered.

• Products from abroad often have warnings that have been translated into English from another language and are grammatically incorrect. If they are not clear, call the manufacturer for assistance, go back to the store where the product was purchased to ask for help, or proceed with caution.

• Brainstorm possible hazards that may not be warned against and take precautions accordingly. For example, children might be tempted to use an open oven door as a step ladder and risk tipping the appliance over.

• Because warning tags on clothing are often not conspicuously placed on separate tags, consumers should actively look for any warnings printed on, for example, fabric care labels.

• Don't dismiss mild warnings. For example, flammable clothing like cotton nightgowns often have tags that read "Avoid flame or heat" but do not explain the consequences. Such a warning seems to imply that the heat will damage the fabric when, in fact, these nightgowns can ignite rapidly and cause extensive burns.

• When purchasing industrial-type consumer products (such as power washers and high pressure paint sprayers), ask to borrow any audio or videotapes supplied by the manufacturer to the retailer.

• Look for a toll free number for consumers. Pearson says the inclusion of one is a sign of a safety-conscious manufacturer. Be aware, however, that some company representatives might not be able to answer technical questions.

• Don't be sidetracked by reassuring phrases. An "environmentally friendly" product is not necessarily safe.

• If consumers are concerned about a product that has been reported in the news as unsafe, they can return the product and cite safety factors as an explanation.

Pearson emphasizes that warning labels are not always the ultimate answer to dealing with hazards. The ideal solutions, he says, are first to design out the hazard when technologically feasible and second to guard against it. Barring this, he says, manufacturers should put greater emphasis on warning the consumer.

"We realize there's a tendency for people to plug and play, to rush home from the purchase and use the product right away without paying much attention to warnings," Pearson says. "People just have to learn that as sophisticated as our products are today, there are still hazards associated with many of them. Indeed, sometimes sophistication adds unexpected hazards."

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