Dangerous products

A high level of security is assured to all consumers throughout EU. The Directive 2001/95/EC, concerning the general safety of manufactured and commercialized products in Europe, has introduced a specific regulation in this field. A product can be considered safe if, while it is used in normal and reasonably foreseeable conditions, it does not show any risk or only minimum risks, in such a way to be compatible with its use and in case it respects a high level of health protection and of general security. Some general obligations are imposed to manufacturers and distributors who are bound to control and to apply these security requirements related to the products’ safety. The Directive on general product safety also imposes an obligation on Member States to notify the European Commission whenever they adopt restrictive measures in relation to the marketing or use of products within their territory. RAPEX is an alert system which facilitates notification in the case of non-food consumer products, except for pharmaceutical and medical devices. The Member States are bound to appoint some public bodies in charge with controlling the actual product safety.

Products’ safety must be verified and examined taking account of several aspects, especially the categories of consumers they are addressed to. In fact, there are some categories of consumers such as kids and old people, who are particularly vulnerable and for this reason they need a special care and protection. A product can be considered safe if it does not present any risk or only small risks in respect of a high level of health protection and people safety, while being used in normal conditions and in a reasonably predictable way. This means that there is not a single and universal level of safety as every single product is different form the other, thus requiring a different level of safety. Let’s have an example: a knife is much more dangerous than other objects such as a doll, but both objects need to be safe for consumers who will use them; therefore it is extremely important that they are made in such a way as to protect consumers they are addressed to in the best way possible (the knife should be made in such a way as to be less dangerous possible and the doll should be made taking account of the fact that it will be eventually used by kids, a category of consumers particularly dangerous).

As dangerous products present a defect or they do not respect all the caution and safety conditions, they can turn out to be dangerous although they are used in a “normal” way, thus implying a responsibility of the producer or the importer in case an accident occurs. There are some EU safety brands (The CE brand refers to the conformity of several different categories of products to EU regulations) but they cannot be considered an unquestioning safety guaranty. Therefore, it is always important to use every product with all the necessary cautions and in case a suspect of danger occurs (i. e. an electronic device heats too much and it may cause a fire), we remind you to report it to the competent authorities.