Improving Product Safety and Effectiveness in the Home

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that accidents rated as the fifth leading cause of death in 2002. A large proportion of these accidents occur in and around the home. For 2003, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimated that just under 11 million injuries were caused by children's nursery equipment; toys; sports and recreational equipment; home communication and entertainment; household containers; yard and garden equipment; home workshop equipment; home maintenance; general household appliances; heating, cooling, and ventilation equipment; home furnishings and fixtures; and home structures and construction materials. Even those products that are safe to use may not be designed to allow the user to be maximally effective when using those products. This chapter describes a framework that can provide a foundation for understanding the components that play a role in making products safe and effective, a process that can be used by designers to ensure a consideration of the components of the framework, and a discussion of the extent to which consumers select products based on these features. Difficulties in conducting research in this area are identified, as well as some directions for future work.

The patient work system: An analysis of self-care performance barriers among elderly heart failure patients and their informal caregivers

“…The specific factors in the boxes in Figure 5 were derived based on empirical data but checked for consistency with existing definitions of professional and patient work systems and their subcomponents (Boehm-Davis, 2005; Fisk et al, 2009; Holden, Carayon, et al, 2013; National Research Council, 2011). Systems approaches have been called for in heart failure research (Retrum et al, 2013) and they promote systemic interventions in addition to educating, motivating, or reminding patients (Ditewig et al, 2010).…”

“…A stepwise analytic process was used, with earlier steps focused on identifying and broadly coding barriers, while later steps focused on further developing the conceptual model, identifying patterns, and then returning to the original data to revise the coding (Saldaña, 2013). Our data was the primary driver for decision making about how to define and group barrier subcategories, but existing work system models (Boehm-Davis, 2005; Fisk et al, 2009; Holden, Carayon, et al, 2013; National Research Council, 2011) were consulted when data were insufficient to guide those decisions.…”

Rimdas: A Proposed System for Reducing Runway Incursions

“…This framework specifies that users accomplish tasks by utilizing particular devices (or systems) within the environmental context in which the user, task, and system reside. A fully informed design requires complete awareness of the unique characteristics of each aspect of this triad; each is evaluated not singly but in combination (Boehm-Davis, 2006). Thus, the interaction of each component with one or more of the remaining components produces behavior and requirements above and beyond those observed with each aspect of the triad in isolation.…”

Forensic Human Factors: People, Places, Products

“…Consumer products are ubiquitous and present a challenge to manufacturers who want to ensure safety and effectiveness (Boehm- Davis, 2006). New technologies have provided a multitude of products intended to improve quality of life, simplify tedious tasks, and provide recreation.…”

“…Ideally, a product should be designed at the outset to prevent unsafe behaviors from occurring during its use (Boehm- Davis, 2006). Once a manufacturer (or others in the product supply chain) become aware of a product hazard, they have a legal duty to do something to minimize the risk that the hazard will injure product users.…”