What is due diligence? What responsibilities do retailers have? Is it reasonable to rely on assurances from suppliers? What regulations and standards apply? Are tests or certificates necessary? When is a product "safe"? Are the instructions and warnings adequate? Is misuse foreseeable? Are any injuries acceptable? Is a recall necessary?

Consumer Risk Limited can provide designers, manufacturers, importers, retailers, underwriters, etc with the answers to questions like these (and many more) in relation to claims for personal injury, defective products or services and prosecutions under safety legislation - before expensive laboratory tests are commissioned. Expertise can be provided in identifying hazardous features, analysing the factors leading to injuries, quantifying the risks and advising on prevention. Supplementary specialist knowledge and test facilities are available through associates when necessary, while a world-wide contact network can be used to locate the most up to date research work, and to investigate overseas requirements.

CONSUMER RISK LIMITED - Expert consultancy and research and services

Due Diligence Procedures Briefings and advice clinics Assessment of consumer hazards Instructions, warnings and labelling PR, marketing and media Digests of existing research Multidisciplinary project teams Consumer safety law, standards and background knowledge Quantitative risk assessments International contacts

Due Diligence Procedures – guidance on issues relevant to product sector and function in supply chain (retailer, designer, importer, etc). Drafting policies and training to implement systems, or auditing current practices in design, purchasing, certification and record keeping.

Briefings, updates and advice clinics - on preparing for forthcoming changes to European product safety laws and standards.

Assessment of consumer hazards (eg for novel products or design features outside the scope of existing standards) through a combination of ergonomic evaluation, searches of appropriate injury databases and drawing analogies with standards requirements for products with similar potential hazards.

Design, improvement or evaluation of user instructions, warnings and labelling

Advice to PR, marketing and media staff on consumer safety issues, eg evaluating potential for marketing of novel safety devices, background data for advertising copy

Searches and digests of existing research into specific hazards or aspects of accident prevention - through access to a variety of bibliographic materials and specialist libraries (including British Standards Institute, Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre, British Library, Child Accident Prevention Trust, Office of National Statistics, RoSPA, IMechE, Sport-UK, Institute of Consumer Ergonomics and Netherlands Consumer Safety Institute) and relevant internet resource sites.

Assembling ad-hoc multidisciplinary project teams of experts and researchers to examine a specific consumer safety issue from all the necessary angles (potentially including laboratory testing, user trials and expert experience.

Expert input to project teams or other contractors. Input of experience of consumer safety law, standards and background knowledge into projects where the main contractor is new to this particular field.

Pre-standardisation development work to establish safety requirements in new areas.

Research into practical application and legal interpretations of General Product Safety Regulations, Consumer Protection Act and specific product regulations, including research into case law, complaints, prosecutions and product recalls. Writing guidance giving seminars.

Quantitative and qualitative risk assessments in relation to consumer injuries. Location and analysis data from a wide range of specialist sources in the UK and overseas. Critical appraisal of inherent biases in different collection methods. Estimation of comparative risk or severity. Design of databases, surveys and questionnaires relating to injuries and exposure.

International liaison and cross-border research projects with safety organisations in other member states of EU and OECD.

CONSUMER RISK LIMITED - Expertise

Twenty years experience in the consumer safety field, including research and standards work, due diligence procedures in retailing and manufacturing, and hazard assessment of a wide range of consumer products.

Familiar with UK and European Union legislative framework, trading standards and civil service procedures, a wide range of published Standards, current standardisation issues and consumer safety issues in the media.

Background in engineering, materials and ergonomics and experience of market research survey design, accident data analysis and standards writing. Multi-disciplinary teams assembled for projects as required from a large network of UK and overseas expert contacts - in academic research and commercial organisations as well as test laboratories and independent consultants experienced in a very wide range of disciplines and products.

Wide ranging knowledge of safety issues generally or relevant to particular products, hazards or consumers. Access to many specialised library collections containing published and unpublished material relevant to consumer safety.

Familiarity with the capabilities and limitations of the relevant injury databases, including, HASS, LASS, HADD (and their equivalents in the USA, Australia and EU member states). Experience of analysing Home Office Fires data and relevant elements of statistics published by RoSPA, OFT, ONS and HSE.

Ability to coordinate cross-disciplinary projects and to edit the results into a homogenous report. Experience of applying cost-benefit analysis, decision analysis and operational research approaches to accident prevention initiatives

Conveniently based to organise meetings in London and to travel to principle cities of UK and Europe.

Consumer Risk Limited can provide designers, manufacturers, importers, retailers, underwriters, etc with the answers to questions like these (and many more) in relation to claims for personal injury, defective products or services and prosecutions under safety legislation - before expensive laboratory tests are commissioned. Expertise can be provided in identifying hazardous features, analysing the factors leading to injuries, quantifying the risks and advising on prevention. Supplementary specialist knowledge and test facilities are available through associates when necessary, while a world-wide contact network can be used to locate the most up to date research work, and to investigate overseas requirements.

SITE LINKS: - Published regulations and guidance - UK Government & standards bodies - European Commission - US Govt - UK consumer and professional bodies - International sites - Consumer Risk Limited - CSEN homepage