Smoke detectors are just about everywhere. They are in office buildings, retail stores, churches, schools, libraries, restaurants, theaters, hotels, and in our homes. They have become so common that it is easy to overlook them.

To keep your family safe, you can’t take smoke detectors for granted. Do you know if you have smoke detectors located in all the best places in your home? Do you know if they are working, or how old they are? Can you remember the last time the batteries were replaced?

The smoke alarms in our homes are among the most important life-saving devices in common use. Approximately 65% of people who die in home fires have no working smoke alarms. To cut this risk of death in half, all it takes are a few working smoke detectors. Our lives depend on them working correctly and that means learning a little bit about them. It’s not complicated or difficult, so take a few minutes and educate yourself about smoke alarms.

There are two common types of smoke detectors: 1) Photoelectric alarms, which are best with smoldering fires or fires that begin by smoldering,  2) Ionization smoke detectors, which are more sensitive to flaming fires. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggests that both types of detectors should be used in your home. You can buy some of each type or you can get combination alarms that include both types of sensors in the same device.

Smoke Alarm Safety Tips from the NFPA:

• Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, in the hallway near each sleeping area, and on each level of your home, including the basement.
• Interconnect all of the alarms so when one sounds, they all do.
• Test all smoke alarms once a month by pushing the test button.
• When installing smoke detectors remember that smoke rises, so place them up high on the wall or on the ceiling.
• Follow all manufacturer’s instructions for installation and keep the instructions handy for maintenance.
• Replace all smoke alarms every 10 years, or sooner if they are not working correctly.
• Smoke alarms are also available for people who are deaf or have profound hearing loss. These alarms are triggered by the sound of the smoke detector and use strobe lights or vibrations, such as pillow or bed shakers, to wake people.
• Make sure you purchase equipment with the label of a recognized testing laboratory.

Smoke alarms are an important part of home safety and any home fire escape plan. If you have a fire, the smoke spreads fast. Working smoke alarms could provide you the early warning you need to get yourself and your family outside quickly and safely.

Resources:
National Fire Protection Association:  http://www.nfpa.org/index.asp
http://www.homefiredrill.org

What is “Tris”?  It sounds like a simple enough word. In fact, Tris is the name given to the chemical flame retardants that have been banned from children’s sleepware since the 1970’s. However, they are still used in baby products, household furniture and many other household items. The actual names are TDCP (Tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate) and TCEP (Tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate).

Any flame retardant’s job is to slow fires — a good thing. Unfortunately, studies link the Tris chemicals TDCP and TCEP to cancer, reduced fertility, thyroid hormone disruption, and lower IQ. They also have been found to harm the liver, kidney, brain and testes.

Studies show that young children are often the group most highly exposed to these flame retardants. Researchers estimate that children may ingest up to ten times as much of these chemicals as adults because children often put their hands into their mouths, chew on things, and spend a lot of time close to the ground.

Where Tris is found:

• TDCP is the flame retardant most often used in automotive foam cushioning and the second most widely used flame retardant in furniture foam.
• TDCP & TCEP are also used in baby gear, including strollers, nursing pillows, couches, chairs, sofa beds, rocking chair foam, back-coating of carpets and upholstery. They are in cell phones, TVs, computers and other electronics, and automobile cushioning, PVC vinyl, rubber, plastics, paints and varnishes.

Where Tris travels:

• Both chemicals leach out of furniture and end up contaminating household dust and drinking water. One study in Boston, Massachusetts detected TDCP in more than 96 percent of the samples collected.
• In a 2002 study of water samples from 139 streams across the country, TCEP was one of the most frequently detected contaminants.

Avoiding Tris:
Fire safety starts with good fire prevention practices.

• Protect your home with sprinklers, smoke detectors and use common sense.
• Replace ripped or torn upholstery that has any exposed foam interior.
• Avoid furniture that says it meets the California flame retardant standard TB 117. This is an outdated standard that requires excessive amounts of flame retardant chemicals to be added to furniture foam.
• Buy furniture and textiles made from natural fibers like wool, jute or cotton — these materials are more naturally flame-retardant than synthetic fibers and require fewer chemical additives to meet flammability standards.
• To cut down on dust exposure from these chemicals, mop your floors, dust frequently with a damp or microfiber cloth, and use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter.
• Before buying electronics, check with the manufacturer to see if they have pledged to phase out the use of chlorinated flame retardants.

Legislating Tris:
In October 2011, these chemicals were officially listed as cancer-causing by the State of California on the “Prop 65 list.” This requires the publication of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. The listing won’t ban Tris, but it will result in a labeling requirement for consumer products containing the chemicals.

When you are replacing the tires on your current car, it’s wise to learn about the different lines and features.  There are hundreds of makes and models of tires from which to choose. Just like when you are buying a car, you want to make an educated choice.  Deciding on the right car means reading the safety statistics, matching your needs to car features, comparing prices, etc.  It’s the same process for buying tires.  How much you drive, your vehicle, your style of driving, and the types of your passengers or cargo, will all determine the best tires for you. Tire performance is a key factor in car accident prevention.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is one source for getting useful information  NHTSA has rated more than 2,400 tires, including most styles used on passenger cars, minivans, SUVs and light pickup trucks.  The grading system it uses is the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQGS), and provides consumers with information based on three criteria.

1. Tire treadwear:  This measures a tire’s wear rate. A higher the treadwear number indicates it lasts longer. This is established by assigning a control tire a grade of 100. Test tires are compared to this control tire to see how long it takes for the tread to wear down.  So, for example, a tire with a grade of 200 should take twice as long to wear out as the control tire.
2. Traction performance:  This tests a tire’s ability to stop on wet pavement. A higher traction graded tire should allow a car to stop on wet roads in a shorter distance than a tire with a lower grade. Traction is graded from highest to lowest as “AA”, “A”, “B”, and “C”.
3. Temperature resistance:  This is a measure of a tire’s resistance to heat. When driving for long distance, or in hot weather, tires can increase in temperature, which can cause tread separation, blowouts and general deterioration. From highest to lowest, a tire’s resistance to heat is graded as “A”, “B”, or “C”.

For more information about tire safety and testing, or if you want to look up a specific brand or model of tire, go to http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Shoppers/Tires/Tires+Rating

If you crawl around your home, or walk around on your knees, you will get the same perspective of your house as your young children.  It’s an eye opener!  Counters are over your head, coffee tables are at eye level, and there are all sorts of fun things in cabinets and under the couch!

Your children encounter things in your house differently than adults.  To keep them safe at home, you need to look at it from their different perspective.  Some of the most common home injuries for children include burns, poisonings, drowning, animal bites, choking, and falls, quite often from climbing on things and exploring.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that:

• Younger children are at higher risk of burns from scalding hot liquids or steam.
• Older children are more often burned directly from flames.
• Each day 374 children under age 19 are treated at an emergency room.
• Two children die each day from poisoning.

Many of these accidents are preventable with careful home child-proofing. To protect the youngest members of your family, follow these Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines:

1. Safety latches and locks for cabinets and drawers in kitchens, bathrooms, and other areas, to help prevent poisonings and other injuries.
2. Safety gates, door knob covers and door locks to help prevent falls down stairs and to keep children from entering rooms and other areas with potential dangers.
3. Anti-scald devices for faucets and shower heads. Set your water heater temperature to 120 degrees Fahrenheit to help prevent burns from hot water.
4. Smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside each bedroom, and in outside sleeping areas, to alert you to fires, and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms near sleeping areas to help prevent CO poisoning.
5. Window guards and safety netting to help prevent falls from windows, balconies, decks, and landings.
6. Corner and edge bumpers to help prevent injuries from falls against sharp edges of furniture and fireplaces.
7. Outlet covers and plates to help prevent electrocution.
8. Tassels on each window blind cord and inner cord stops on mini blinds to help prevent strangulation.
9. Anchors to avoid furniture and appliances from tipping over.
10. Layers of protection on pools and spas including fencing with locked gates, pool covers and alarms to prevent drowning.

Parents struggle daily to provide the best for their children and to keep them safe. A parent’s nightmare is putting their children in harm’s way when it could be easily avoided. Unfortunately, current research concludes that one thing meant to keep a child safe, a car seat, may now have toxic implications detrimental to a child’s health.

The nonprofit Ecology Center and HealthyStuff.org have conducted a Michigan-based research study that tested 150 infant, booster, and convertible car seats for toxic chemicals. All of these 2011 models were tested for chemical traces of bromine, arsenic, lead, mercury, chromium, chlorine, and other toxins. The fourth annual report showed that about sixty percent of these tested car seats contain at least one of these toxic chemicals.

Babies and small children are especially vulnerable to toxins because their small bodies are still developing. Exposure to the toxins found in car seats have been linked to allergies, impaired learning abilities, liver toxicity, and even cancer. Sun exposure increases the risk by initiating a breakdown of these chemicals.

One of the toxic chemicals found in some car seats, bromine, is used as a flame retardant and is associated with making plastics fire-resistant. Many baby products contain this dangerous chemical, which can cause memory impairment and behavioral changes. Yet forty four percent of the car seats tested contained this chemical. The good news is the development of car seats is starting to improve, as traces of bromine in flame retardants has dropped eighteen percent from the previous year.

The study found the least degree of toxicity in the Graco Turbo Booster in Anders, Graco SnugRide 35 in Laguna Bay, Chicco KeyFit 30 in Limonata, and Combi Shuttle 33 in Cranberry Noche.

Car seats with the highest level of toxins included the Recaro Pro Booster in Blue Opal, Britax Marathon 70 in Jet Set, Recaro ProSPORT Toddler in Misty, and Recaro ProRIDE in Midnight.

It is undeniable that car seats save lives and are a necessity for every child on every car ride to protect your child from a serious car accident injury. In fact, children need to be secured into some sort of car seat until they are over four feet and nine inches tall. Plus, Michigan’s child passenger safety laws require that all children under the age of four must ride in a car seat in the rear seat of any vehicle.

While there is still research to be done to understand the full impact of these chemicals on child health and development, there are some easy steps you can take to reduce your children’s exposure to toxic chemicals while still ensuring they are safely secured in a car seat.

1. Wash new car seat covers before use.
2. Buy a washable car seat cover or head and body support cushion that will go between the manufacturer’s fabric and your baby.
3. Give your child an age-appropriate toy to play with or chew on during car rides.
4. Dress your baby in long sleeve and long pant clothing if temperatures are cool enough that they won’t overheat.

Seniors who are taking antidepressants, sedatives, and other psychotropic medications may be at an increased risk for falls, according to a new study published in the November 23, 2009 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Canadian researchers analyzed 22 published studies, which included a total of 79,081 participants older than 60. The studies evaluated the effects of 9 classes of drugs:

• High Blood Pressure Medicines
• Diuretics
• Beta Blockers
• Sedatives and Hypnotics
• Neuroleptics and Antipsychotics
• Antidepressants
• Benzodiazepines
• Narcotics
• Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories

After reviewing the data and other factors, the researchers concluded that there was a significant association between older adults’ use of sedatives, hypnotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines, and their risk of falls.

“Given the divergent results shown by some observational assessments within specific medication classes, the results of our meta-analysis reiterate the need for caution when prescribing these medications to seniors,” wrote John C. Woolcott, of the University of British Columbia and the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences in Vancouver, and his colleagues.

“It is hoped that future research in this area can be completed with larger sample sizes in both community and long-term care facility settings and thus improve the quality of information about fall risks that is available to physicians and pharmacists when they are deciding which types of pharmacotherapy to provide,” the researchers added.

Over 30 percent of people who are 65 years or older will suffer a fall at least once a year. Falls and their complications are the fifth leading cause of death in the world.

However, falls and fractures are not an inevitable part of growing older. In fact, many can be prevented. To reduce your risk of falls and fractures, you can:

• Make personal lifestyle changes to increase your physical well-being.
• Make changes in your home.
• Consider using walking aids or other assistive devices.
• Take steps to maintain or improve your bone health.
• Talk to your doctor about other steps you can take to lower your risk of falling.

The Sam Bernstein Law Firm encourages all consumers to stay informed of current medication news, to ensure the safety of you and your family.

In recent months, millions of toys have been recalled from stores across America because the products violate basic safety standards. Shopping for young children has become increasingly difficult, because it often is impossible to tell which toys are safe and which are not. Some of the recalled products were covered in lead paint, built with deadly magnets, or coated in a substance similar to the “date rape” drug.

These dangerous toys should never have reached retail store shelves. However, recent Congressional investigations have revealed that the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is failing to protect the public from defective products.

When children are injured or killed by toxic toys or other products, their families encounter huge legal hurdles if they seek compensation for their losses. Over 70% of all toys now sold in this country were manufactured overseas, mostly in China. These products, although cheaper, receive minimal regulatory oversight. Additionally, foreign manufacturers have argued that they are not subject to jurisdiction in United States courts.

The U. S. Congress is working on legislation to secure the rights of American consumers against foreign manufacturing mistakes. Many lawmakers agree that foreign manufacturer should be legally accountable for non-compliance with U.S. safety standards. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate are boosting the CPSC’s annual budget, as well as increasing the standards of testing and certification before products can be sold.

Marketing defective products is not only dangerous, it is wrong. Injuries sustained by simple toys can be substantial, and in some cases fatal. We encourage the U.S. Congress to continue to put pressure on the CPSC, American importers, and foreign manufacturers to ensure the safety of our families.

At the Bernstein Law Firm, we have been protecting the legal rights of victims injured by defective products for over 40 years. If you or a loved one was injured by a defective product, we recommend that you contact an experienced product liability attorney immediately.

We believe that in Ohio, companies that make dangerous products that cause injury should be held accountable. The area of Ohio law that covers these types of cases is generally referred to as Ohio product liability law.

Under Ohio law, ORC 2307.711, a product liability action is:

“Product liability claim” means a claim that is asserted in a civil action pursuant to sections 2307.71 to 2307.80 of the [Ohio] Revised Code and that seeks to recover compensatory damages from a manufacturer or supplier for death, physical injury to person, emotional distress, or physical damage to property other than the product in question, that allegedly arose from any of the following:

• The design, formulation, production, construction, creation, assembly, rebuilding, testing, or marketing of that product;
• Any warning or instruction, or lack of warning or instruction, associated with that product;
• Any failure of that product to conform to any relevant representation or warranty.

Ohio Defective Product Law – Causes of Action
Ohio plaintiffs interested in pursuing an Ohio products liability case have three potential causes of action:

1. Negligence
2. Contract
3. Strict liability in tort

To establish actionable negligence, a plaintiff must show the existence of a duty, a breach of the duty, and an injury resulting proximately from this breached duty.

In order for an Ohio plaintiff to recover on the basis of strict liability in tort, he/she must allege and prove the following: that a defect existed in the product manufactured or sold by the defendant; the defect existed at the time the product left the defendant’s hands; the defect was the proximate cause of the of the plaintiff’s injury. This applies to defects in both design and manufacture.

Who May Be Liable under Ohio Defective Product Law
Under Ohio product liability law, an injured party may recover against four types of defendants:

Manufacturers
The Ohio Revised Code defines a “manufacturer” as “a person engaged in a business to design, formulate, produce, create, make, construct, assemble, or rebuild a product or a component of a product” (ORC 2307.71(I))

Suppliers
A “supplier” is defined under the Ohio Revised Code as “a person that, in the course of a business conducted for the purpose, sells, distributes, leases, prepares, blends, packages, labels, or otherwise participates in the placing of a product in the stream of commerce” (ORC 2307.71(O))

Successor Corporations
The general rule, under Ohio product liability law, is that a successor corporation’s amenability to suit depends on the nature of the transaction that gave rise to ownership. If the transfer was accomplished by a merger or consolidation, then the liability of the former corporation will be assumed.

Parent Corporations
Under Ohio law, there is a general presumption that a parent and its subsidiaries are separate entities and entitled to be treated as such. The plaintiff would have to present evidence to overcome this presumption.

Damages in an Ohio Product Liability Claim
Damages available in an Ohio products liability claim based upon negligence may include compensatory damages, pain and suffering damages, and punitive damages where appropriate.

Punitive damages are only recoverable upon a finding of “actual malice” defined as “(1) that state of mind under which a person’s conduct is characterized by hatred, ill will or a spirit of revenge, or (2) a conscious disregard for the rights and safety of other persons that has a great probability of causing substantial harm.”

Theories of Liability Under Ohio Product Liability Law
Under Ohio law, several theories of liability are available to plaintiffs including:

1. Defects in manufacture or construction
2. Defects in design or formulation
3. Defects due to inadequate warning or instruction

Defenses to an Ohio Product Liability Claim
It should be expected that the negligent corporation will vigorously fight a product liability claim. Defenses typically presented by the manufacturer in an Ohio products liability claim include:

• The danger was open and obvious and required no warnings
• The product was misused
• The user’s negligence contributed to the injury
• The injured user assumed the risk of injury
• The alleged lack of warning did not cause the injury
• There was an intervening cause that cuts off the liability of the manufacturer

Ohio defective product law is complex. Therefore, if you or a loved one was injured by a defective product in Ohio, it is wise to consult a dedicated Ohio product liability lawyer.

Michigan Defective Product Law Requirements
One common requirement in all Michigan product liability claims is a finding of a defect in a product. The defect may be based on the following:

Under Michigan law, the injured person must prove the following:

1. The product was defective.
2. The defect caused the injury or damage.
3. An injury or damage was sustained.

Negligent Design
One of the most common defective product claims involves negligent design. These cases involve the design decisions made by the manufacturer during the creation of the product. The focus of this claim is that, even if the product was in its intended condition, there was something inherently wrong with the product that caused the damage.

To prove that the manufacturer failed to exercise reasonable care, the injured person must demonstrate that the product created an unreasonable risk or foreseeable injury.

To establish a prima facie case, the injured person must present evidence regarding either:

The application of this approach to each case is critically important. You should consult with an attorney.

Negligent Manufacture
In contrast to negligent design cases, a negligent manufacture case focuses on the actual product. The key question is whether the product that caused injury was different from the intended condition.

Even though the focus is on the product, the injured person must still show that the manufacturer failed to manufacture its product so as to eliminate any unreasonable risk of foreseeable injury.

Negligent Failure to Warn
Michigan product liability law recognizes that some products are inherently dangerous. These dangers cannot be eliminated through the design process. In these instances, a manufacturer may have a duty to warn the user of these hazards.

Michigan courts have ruled that manufacturers have a duty to warn purchasers or users of dangers associated with the intended use or reasonably foreseeable misuse of their products, but the scope of the duty is not unlimited.

Some issues that apply in most warning cases include:

The two-pronged standard for evaluating a defect in a product, as stated in Owens v. Allis-Chalmers Corp, 414 Mich 413, 326 NW2d 372 (1982), was adopted by the Michigan Legislature in 1996.

The present Michigan Product Liability Act requires proof that:

The Michigan Product Liability Act dramatically impacts all Michigan defective product claims. Michigan defective product law includes many important requirements. If you or a loved one was seriously injured by a defective product, talk with an experienced Michigan product liability lawyer today. You should consult with an attorney to learn more about your rights under Michigan law.