Response to case study scenario 1

Picturing myself in the role of a junior safety engineer, I wouldn’t ignore the problem described. Instead I would escalate the issue to senior management in the form of an explanatory report highlighting the key issues and urging the instigation of a product recall. The reasoning for my decision follows.

The problem faced is primarily with the management, with ethical considerations adding a further dimension to the argument. By the management ignoring the issue it could cause fines to be imposed on the company due to the breach in legislation. It could also cause extremely bad feedback from customers who may experience a faulty product and therefore cause possible subsequent loss of future revenue due to the bad publicity. My ethical belief would be based on the consequence of the faulty products being left on the market, with the uncertainty of their safety in an incident; I feel that I have a duty to stop this from occurring. Any faulty USB drives risk imposing a fire hazard which may cause personal injury. Therefore it would be morally wrong to leave the faulty products on the market especially when the safety group manger already knows about the safety concern. My ethical beliefs can’t be enforced; however I would feel that appropriate actions should be taken to resolve the issue in hand.

Not only is the action morally wrong, it breaks EU regulations. The General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC is a regulation bound to the producer of products for sale. This EU legislation places an obligation on manufacturers, retailers and importers to place “safe” products on the market. This is enforced by Local Authority Trading Standards Departments and carries fines of up to £5,000 or a three month imprisonment. With the management not recalling these devices, the legislation is being breached; exposing the company to financial loses and bad publicity by not meeting the set legislation.

My decision can be reinforced by personal experience from within a product testing organisation, here i can relate a previous experience to this scenario. A particular concern within the product testing environment is the explosion of Lithium-Ion batteries in mobile devices and particularly laptop batteries upon overheating. Here I witnessed first hand the damage a failing electronic device can cause. In comparison to this scenario, its highly likely that one of the possible faulty USB drives is used in a laptop PC, in close proxity to a highly dangerous Lithium-Ion battery, that upon ignition would cause massive damage. This is a fault that can’t be ignored due to the danger of the product when in a failing state.

With a wealth of reasons as to why the matter shouldn’t go ignored, I would take a course of action to produce an explanatory report to senior management to make them aware of the seriousness of overlooking the problem. This report would outline the key points that influenced my decision, these are:

• The legislation being breached by not placing “safe” products on the market.
• Costs involved with fines and any damages that are occurred from the failing devices.
• My personal experience from within a testing organisation that shows the damage those failing computer components can cause.
• Damage to company reputation and customer relations being significantly reduced by not recalling the items.

My report to senior management would stress the need for a product recall for the batch of USB devices. Although the initial cost of removing the products from the customers and replacing them may be large, this option will cost far less than the cost of damages to property and the consumers safety due to a failing device. The company’s reputation and profile won’t be damaged to such a degree either. Not recalling a device that could potential fail and catch fire would cause significant and irreversible damage to the company. This action is reinforced by the presence of the legislation the company must follow.

Building a solid and trustworthy client relationship will make or break a company. This commitment is vital to influence clients to choose your products over competitors, sustain your financial requirements and build a reputable company profile. In the circumstance of the product recall not being issued and the product possibly failing, this bond with the customer is compromised.