Being a Junior Engineer within the Safety Testing department at a USB flash Drive Manufacturer I found 3 faulty/unsafe products within a batch of 200. Unfortunately, the batch had already been dispatched. My action would be as follows, and I will explain the reasons why I would take such action.

In most companies there are reporting procedures in place so that queries and complaints are escalated to the appropriate level and/or department for action. If my immediate manager was unwilling to initiate hat I deemed to be an appropriate action then I would have to relay the findings to someone more senior. To ensure that the situation was taken seriously I would state that if we do not recall this batch then we would be in breach of The General Product Safety Regulations 2005, which is a 2005 Statutory Instrument of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and demands that "No producer shall [supply or] place a [consumer] product on the market unless the product is a safe product".

The Consumer Protection Act 1987 also says that all parties involved in any aspect of the supply chain may have to face a compensation claim if a product which is supplied causes death/injury or even damage to property. A new Act was also passed in July 2007, The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 which in short states that an organization can be tried under the Act if the way in which the organization operates causes the Death and amounts to a gross breach of its duty of care to the victim. Our client may also have a case against us for Negligence and possibly breach of Contract.

Based on my experience mainly through research in the areas of manufacturing and business I would like to add this. I am of the opinion that in order to achieve trust between a supplier and a client it is imperative that procedures are followed to the letter. In my opinion there is nothing more important than Health & Safety. We live in a world of law suits, if you take your eye of the ball and allow quality to slip then you are risking everything. If you had to recall 5 batches you may lose some money short term, but long term you can always claim tax relief on your losses anyway and you still have a business. If you don’t recall due to an unsafe product and someone becomes injured as a result the consequences are immediate and you will almost definitely lose your business in a very short space of time. It’s simply just not worth taking the chance.

As an employee involved in the safety testing of products supplied by the company I could not allow a batch of products to be supplied when part of the batch had been tested and had shown to be faulty or unsafe. Amongst other things both my Employer and I have an obligation under the terms of The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 to inform an enforcement authority if a product is known to have been supplied which has been found to be unsafe. I would be honest to the client so that they and the company would be prevented from risking even if I would have to sacrifice my own job. If the client discovered that there were some overlooked faults, the consequences would be much more significant than if the problem had been corrected in time. I would definitely demand an immediate product recall of the batch, I am confident that our client would rather have a delayed product delivery than face criminal charges. I would also approach the management and discuss the "mishap" afterwards so that our company can prevent it from occurring in the future.

Most companies have recall procedures in place. Most offer dedicated help lines to affected clients and marketing strategies on order to protect their brand. If a company operates with transparency they are more likely to earn the trust and support of their clients. You could argue that recalling a product shows your commitment as a company to excellence and quality.