Responsibility for Product Safety in the Work Environment

Abstract

A study was carried out exploring how people allocate responsibility for the safe use of products in the work environment. Products typically used in different work environments were named and subjects apportioned safety responsibility to the manufacturer of the product, the distributor/retailer, the employer, and the employee using the product. The mean percent responsibility allocated to these four choices was 41%, 11%, 22% and 26% respectively. A significant interaction between the products and the four alternatives indicated that the allocation varied across products. Allocations to manufacturers and employees differed to a large extent between products, but the allocations to retailers and employers remained relatively constant. Additional questions assessed the subjects' perceptions of and familiarity with the products. The results indicated that those products subjects viewed as having newer or more novel risks were also the products for which subjects allocated more responsibility to the manufacturer. For products viewed as having more open and obvious hazards greater responsibility was allocated to the employee.