The safety Question is a subject I
wanted to raise for some time on this forum and I think this is a
good time to open up the discussion for further
input.
Frank Bartels latest update on his new Safety
Cover.
Dr. Larry Loo has written in the past re: his Safety
Fence for table saws.
Joe Figliuzzi has written re: his
Safeguard Ladder(TM), a ladder that
has
greatly increased ladder stability and Safety.
All
three above have this in common. They have not only made safety a
prominent part of their invention but have gone further to ADVERTISE THE SAFETY FEATURE of their
inventions. In my opinion, this is a fatal mistake.
Before I explain, let me first back up a bit to relate my
experience last winter in promoting my safety ladder. My best
contact was with Home Depot whose interest was whet enough on the
phone to ask me to come down to the Chicago area and bring my 1/5
scale model with me. In short, they liked the ladder and asked me
to meet with their Team Captain, located in New Jersey who is also
the ladder buyer for all Home Depot Stores. He also liked the
ladder very much and made an appointment for me to meet with their
major ladder manufacturer located near Pittsburgh. With all of
this interest and enthusiasm by Home Depot, I thought I had made
the big time first time out. Though no written letter of intent
was offered, it was more or less understood that if their ladder
supplier would build the ladder, Home Depot would stock it in
their stores.
My meeting with the ladder manufacturer was not at all what I
expected. To begin with, they were not interested in allocating
any of their resources for further development. The most they
offered was that they liked the clean design of my ladder but
would consider manufacturing it only after I would pursue it
further, until it was 90% market ready. This meant that
I would have to bear the full cost of further development and
testing, which, with my limited capital, is impossible. I now
believe that the only reason they met with me at all was
because Home Depot liked the ladder and had made the appointment
for me. Since Home Depot is one of their biggest customers, they
could hardly refuse.
The New Products Director of the Ladder Co. said that their
company is extremely interested in safety, and went on and on
about this until I began to believe that he was, "protesting too
much." However, he also informed me of the long standing
standard legal defense of all ladder manufactures which is,
"All ladders are inherently unsafe and the buyer buys and
uses a ladder AT HIS/HER OWN RISK." This statement was a
bombshell for me. It demolished, in one stroke, seven years of
labor, two patents, and huge amounts of lost money I could never
retrieve. Most importantly, however, I realized that the
factors that operate in the ladder industry were 180 degrees apart
from my own misguided perspective. Ladder manufacturers
apparently operate on the principle that I just stated, that all
ladders are inherently unsafe. They have fortunes invested in
their product lines that produce ladders in accordance with these
principles. Then I come along and say, "Look everybody, I've
got a SAFE ladder" In retrospect, I can see now that they need my
ladder like they need a hole in their head.
In looking back at that conversation, I think I could have sold
them a ladder that does everything a ladder can possibly do,
except do everything they do safely. Why?,
because any other kind of ladder improvement that does not tout
safety would not challenge the industry standard under
which they operate. Again, in retrospect, I can
see their logic though I hate to admit it. If I advertise my
ladder as being safe and some idiot uses the ladder in a manner
that it was never intended or designed to do, and he breaks his
back and is crippled for life, I would be sued because I
advertised and sold him a safe ladder. What would be my
defense?
So I have finally come to the full realization that the
expression, "Safety doesn't sell" is true, or to be more accurate,
partly true because If the resources were available, I could still
build and sell a safe ladder and Home Depot is still interested in
it if could be profitably manufactured. But, having
learned a costly lesson this time around, I would no
longer ADVERTISE the ladder's safety features and
benefits.
Another valuable lesson I learned and would like to
convey, both to the inventors mentioned above, and to those
inventors whose product includes a prominent safety feature, is
that they do everything they can to study and get a feel for
the industry they would like to enter. I am paying the
price of forging ahead with my great invention that
would save lives and prevent accidents but I did so without
first studying the factors that operate in the ladder industry.
One of our InvenNet members once it better than I when he
said, "Know your turf" (Thanks Harry but the advice came too
late). If I had known beforehand that safety was a big no-no
in the ladder industry, I wouldn't have labeled my ladder the
Safeguard Ladder TM for example. My
marketing approach would have been different. I could have
let the ladder design speak for itself regarding the safety
benefits without ADVERTISING those safety benefits. As an addendum
to 'knowing your turf', can you imagine the position a ladder
manufacturer would have been put into had they added my safety
ladder along their existing, "Non-safe" ladder product line.
Frank Bartels could still sell his propane tank cover
without touting how much safer it is. The same holds for
Dr. Larry Loo. I don't have any idea how much product
liability insurance Frank Bartels carries, but it better be a lot
should some nut miss-use his equipment and an explosion occurs
("You sold me a SAFE etc.")
What I have written here is not the last word but my own take
of what I have experienced last year and if anyone believes I have
erred in my interpretation, I am open to other
interpretations.
Joe Figliuzzi
joefig@paulbunyan.net
January 6, 2001
