Background
A toddler ingested a coin cell battery from a handheld remote controller. The parents alleged that the product manufacturer failed to provide child-resistant packaging. The court case centered on whether the manufacturer took appropriate measures to mitigate risks through design and labeling.
Our Approach
The Rimkus Child and Adolescent Safety team applied developmental psychology and human factors knowledge to assess how young children typically interact with products similar products. We explored the following subjects:
- Exploratory Behavior
- Considered age-typical mouthing behaviors in toddlers and their tendency to manipulate small household objects
- Caregiver Supervision
- Analyzed caregiver expectations and supervision practices for children under five years old
- Child-testing
- Assessed whether a child of the same age could reasonably access and open the battery compartment given expected dexterity
Value Delivered
Our child safety experts provided a multidisciplinary evaluation of the product’s design and context of use that combined developmental psychology, human factors analysis, and product safety standards. We presented this evaluation to the jury to help them understand the differences between child-resistant and child-proof features.