Protection Act 1987 gives protection to this person by legislation. It also
creates criminal liability if certain safety procedures are infringed.
The producer
Strict liability for a defective product is placed on the producer, without
having to prove fault. The producer will normally, but not necessarily, be
the manufacturer, and in addition the retailer may be liable for ‘own
brand’ products.
The defect
A product will be defective if the safety ‘is not such as persons generally
are entitled to expect’. The product may be defective because of a fault in
the manufacturing process, a problem of design, or warning and
instructions given to the consumer.
The Act covers liability for:
- death
- personal injury, and
- damage to property valued at over £275.
But it does not cover liability for damage to the product itself – see Aswan
Engineering Establishment v Lupdine (1987) regarding a burst tyre causing
damage to a car.
Defences
Certain defences are available under the Act, including the following:
- the producer is not in business (such as the sale of home-made products
for charity) - the defect did not exist at the time of manufacture
- that only the component was supplied, whereas the fault lay in the whole
product design - the state of scientific and technical knowledge was such that the
producer would not be expected to have discovered the defect – a ‘state
of the art’ defence. This last defence causes the most worrying problems,
as it could mean that the manufacturer of a product such as the
Thalidomide drug may not be liable for harm caused.
The Act then is not totally satisfactory, but takes consumer protection a
further step forward – in fact for those who have relied on it, it is more like
a huge leap in the direction of total consumer protection.
244 Contract law