Does Business Need More Quality
Control...or More Common Sense?

Headlines in 2007 were overloaded with safety issues and recalls. Whether in the design / development phase or on the production line, safety issues were overlooked on a regular basis.

What's going on? Have businesses become so profit-obsessed that they overlook even the most obvious safety factors?

Children's toys with lead paint … Bunk beds, lounge chairs, and hammocks that collapse … Bicycle forks with insufficient welds … Propane BBQ's missing hoses to route the propane … the list goes on.

In some of these products, quality was overlooked in the design and development phase. In others quality checkpoints were missing in the manufacturing process. Are these gaffes quality issues, or control issues?

Whether it's policies, attitudes, or both, something needs to change. Workplace excellence includes safety and quality, with controls put in place to ensure both are maintained.

That having been said, I've noted that we can't blame the increasing number of recalls on poor quality control alone. Some recalls are simply over-reactions based on fear of (or threat of) a frivolous lawsuit.

Take a look at the recall list posted at www.recalls.gov and you'll find yourself shaking your head. Many appear quite valid, but some reflect a demise of common sense.

Consider this one from January of 2007: A New Jersey company recalled 43,500 drinking cups because (and I quote) "The impact of being dropped or banged can cause the cup to break into pieces, resulting in sharp or jagged edges that pose a laceration hazard to children."

We can't blame the increasing number of recalls on poor quality control alone. Some are simply over-reactions...

Okay, maybe the company could have used a different material. But if you check your fact sheets, many things break when they fall. If people want cups that won't break when dropped they should consider rubber or tin.

Continue scanning the recall list and you might think you're watching Jay Leno do his Headlines segment:

Robert Bosch Tool Corp. Recalls Circular Saws Due to Laceration Hazard

Giftco Inc. Recalls Pine Cone Candle Sets Due to Fire Hazard

Procycle Group Inc. Recalls Bicycles Due to Fall Hazard

I fully recognize that accidents are tragic - especially those resulting in the death of or injury to a child. But accidents are just that: Accidents. I'm willing to bet that more than a small number of recalls are over-reactions.

At what point do we draw the line of corporate liability and establish personal responsibility?

Examples to consider: A Seattle company recalled 1,900 children's jackets. Reason: "The zipper pull can detach from the jacket's zipper, posing a choking hazard to young children."

Quality issue? Maybe. I'm not up on what's an acceptable detachment rate. But we can also teach kids not to put zipper pulls in their mouths.

An Indiana company recalled 800 building sets. Reason: "Small magnets inside the plastic sticks can fall out. Magnets found by small children can be swallowed or aspirated. If more than one magnet is swallowed, the magnets can attract each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which can be fatal."

Yes, definitely a safety issue for a children's toy, and quality might have been an issue. But small magnets have been commonplace for years. At what point do we draw the line? We can "if" ourselves to total paralysis if we succumb to dystychiphobia (fear of accidents) or liticaphobia (fear of lawsuits).

Consider the overreaction that occurred in September of 2007, when a company recalled 425,000 "play yards" after a 10-month old child strangled himself in a strap attached to the equipment.

Any untimely death is tragic, and when it comes to children, it's gut-wrenching. But I have to point out that the United States has one death every 13 minutes due to automobile accidents (one death each year for every 5.76 registered vehicles) and yet tens of thousands of automobiles continue to be sold. Should nearly half a million play yards be recalled due to one tragic death? Where does reasonable cross over into reactionary?

I hope you get my point. It's one thing to recall a genuinely defective product (due to lead paint, insufficient welding, missing parts, etc.), but we should be careful not to blame manufacturers for genuine accidents. We've had magnets lying around and zipper tabs falling off for years. Whether or not a child swallows them is not the manufacturers fault.

Bottom line: it's time to regroup. All parties need to review their areas of responsibility. Companies need to re-examine their commitment to quality. Not just in design and development, but in manufacturing, as well.

And while companies are doing that, us consumers need to re-examine our areas of personal responsibility.

A mix of responsibility, intellectual honesty, and common sense would make a good tonic for everyone in 2008.

Dan Bobinski is a training specialist, author, and an accomplished keynote speaker. He is also the president of Leadership Development, Inc., providing workforce and management training to Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller, regional concerns for more than 18 years. In addition to being a certified behavioral analyst, Dan holds an M.Ed. in Human Resource Training and Development, a B.S. in Workforce Education and Development, and he is currently completing his doctoral work in Adult and Organizational Learning at the University of Idaho.

Specializing now in Train the Trainer workshops and The Manager as Trainer classes, Dan's prevailing philosophy is that managers also need to learn to think like trainers, equipping those below them with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed for workplace excellence. Dan can be reached at (208) 375-7606. Visit his thought-provoking blog, and his company website.

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