Product Defects That Can Be Harmful To Children
Michael Babboni
Law
Anyone can become a victim of defective products as they can happen in any situation. Often, defective product cases can be found in appliances, vehicles, and other household items that adults often use. However, what you should be more cautious about is spotting defective products on children’s items like toys, clothes, food, and accessories.
While you are most likely to go unscathed from using a defective product, children and infants are not capable of putting themselves away from danger yet. Here are some things that you should look out for.
• Small Toys And Parts - It may be common sense for people not to give children toys small toys given their habit of putting anything in their mouths. Small parts can easily choke children and with many toys containing hazardous pieces, it is important to indicate the appropriate age for the toys that you are getting.
Toy companies usually print the age requirement on the toy packaging to tell people that it may be dangerous for kids that are younger than the indicated age limit. However, many manufacturers are a bit lax when imposing age restrictions and fail to put a warning on the toy packaging.
Providing wrong and misleading instructions are considered a product defect, and when a child is harmed because of this, legal actions may be taken.
• Food That Can Trigger Allergies - The symptoms of allergies in young children and infants are way worse than in adults. When allergies are triggered, they can be life-threatening for children. Food products must make sure to disclose the ingredients that are used to create them like peanuts, milk, and other items that can potentially trigger an allergic reaction.
• Defective Baby Items - When we say baby items, we are talking about playpens, cribs, baby mobiles, pacifies, and other care products. These items are often used by children and parents often leave them alone with these. For instance, you can leave your sleeping child in the safety of their crib, trusting that no harm can reach the baby while inside it. Unfortunately, if the crib itself is defective, then it can become the cause of harm you are trying to avoid. The same can be said for other baby products.
• Baby Clothes - Even the most harmless things you can think of might actually be dangerous when defects are discovered. Baby clothes look like they cannot possibly harm your kids. On the contrary, clothes can have defects in them too like faulty fabric or using a fabric that’s different from the one that’s disclosed in the tag. These small things may not seem threatening at first until your children develop a rash or accidentally chokes from a loose button.
Defective products can be challenging to spot right away and are only discovered once the user is already suffering the consequences. However, it’s important to be extra vigilant when it comes to children’s items. You can consult your lawyer to know what actions to take if this happens.