More than two million baby cribs linked to suffocation deaths of infants were recalled by the CPSC and its Canadian counterpart. The hardware, which used to be metal was being made with plastic. When the plastic “hardware” would break causing the crib side to fall the baby if positioned by the side would get pulled down so his or her head and face would be stuck against the mattress side causing suffocation see the New York Times. The defective cribs were sold at big box merchandisers such as Walmart, Target and ToysrUs. We recently discussed defective baby strollers and defective pacifiers. In each defective product the defect was obvious and easily preventable. Question: For each crib how much did the manufacturer save using plastic hardware? My guess-under 2 dollars.

Workers’ Memorial Day
April 28th marks Workers’ Memorial Day. Today we honor and remember those who have died on the job. Many work place injuries are preventable. However, this does not mean injured workers are responsible for their own injuries. Many workers are required to work in unsafe work environments.