Case Studies:
Product Safety & Risk

Representative Clients

• Arnold & Porter
• Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers
• Brown & Gidding
• Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & Mellott
• Emerson
• International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
• United States Coast Guard
• Willkie Farr and Gallagher

All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)

eiden Associates is frequently asked to develop statistical estimates of the numbers of products in use (“populations”), annual hours of product use (“exposure”), and the levels of product fire, injury, and/or fatality risk. We present the estimated risks from specific hazards in the context of the overall level of risk associated with use of the product (“baseline risk assessment”) and place them in the context of risks from comparable products, equipment, or activities (“comparative risk assessment”).

All-terrain vehicles (ATVs) have been the subject of U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulatory proceedings since the mid-1980s. Heiden Associates has provided analytical support to counsel for all of the major ATV manufacturers, developing a comprehensive statistical assessment of the risks associated with ATV riding. On several occasions, we have developed, implemented, and analyzed the results from large-scale surveys of ATV riders. From these data we have produced estimates of the number of vehicles in use, the number of ATV riders, and the aggregate hours of riding annually by members of both ATV-owning and non-owning households. These estimates have been reviewed and, in many cases, adopted by CPSC staff for use in the Commission’s own statistical assessments of ATV risk issues.

Our most recent contribution to a better understanding of the risks associated with ATVs is an analysis of the potential benefits of improved state safety laws relating to helmet use while riding. In a report we recently submitted on behalf of the ATV manufacturers to the CPSC, we projected that consistent state adoption and enforcement of ATV legislation requiring helmet use can be expected to result in substantial reductions in the numbers of fatal and non-fatal head injuries sustained by ATV riders—50 fatalities, more than 600 hospitalized injuries, and over 2,200 other ER-treated injuries—annually.

Bunk Beds

eiden Associates is often retained in product liability litigation to develop a statistical assessment of the overall risk or individual hazard patterns associated with a particular product, vehicle, or activity. Using public and proprietary incident data, we have produced hazard profiles for a wide range of products, including recreational activities and equipment, lawn and garden equipment, major appliances, heating equipment, small kitchen appliances, power tools, and candles.

In one recent assignment we were asked to examine reports on various types of injuries and other incidents associated with the use of bunk beds. The plaintiff’s expert report alleged that the specific entrapment hazard pattern reportedly involved in this particular litigation had occurred repeatedly before the fatal incident in question, and that the manufacturer of the product should therefore have been on notice that the bunk bed’s design was defective.

Heiden Associates identified and extracted from our customized in-house database summaries of all CPSC incident investigations for the 20-year period preceding the incident. We were able to show that bunk bed ladders were involved in less than ten percent of the cases investigated, and the particular hazard pattern of interest was probably or possibly present in less than three percent of the bunk bed entrapment investigations conducted by Commission staff or contractors during this time period. Moreover, the fatal incident that was the subject of litigation was the first on record involving this particular entrapment pattern. In contrast, more than half of the investigations involving other entrapment hazards involved fatal injury incidents.

These findings and others on the history of bunk bed standards development at the CPSC were presented in an expert report filed by counsel for the defendant earlier this year.