Dr Gordon Hayward, a consultant mechanical and human factors engineer set up Consumer Risk Limited in 1998. Since then he has provided advice, research and training services (either personally or as the leader of a small team) to a wide variety of suppliers of consumer products and services, and to regulatory and standards bodies - in the UK and overseas.
In addition, he is a widely recognised expert witness in which capacity he has personally prepared over a hundred opinions and reports on a wide range of consumer products involved in product liability claims, trading standards prosecutions and commercial disputes, engaged by solicitors for injury claimants, suppliers or trading standards authorities. These cases have ranged from balloons to hammer drills and glazing to children's clothing.
He specialises in mechanical, physical and thermal sources of hazard and human factors issues in the interactions between products and consumers (eg instructions for use, warnings and labels, foreseeable human errors and child behaviour). However he is also very experienced in the duties of suppliers under the General Product Safety Regulations in respect of any type of consumer product (eg diligence in design and testing, monitoring safety complaints, dealing with enforcement bodies and product recalls or withdrawals).
Product and service sectors in which Dr Hayward has been consulted include: DIY and vehicle maintenance equipment. Toys. Play and educational equipment. Pushchairs, nursery and childcare products. Choking hazards. Child-resistant features. Domestic glazing, doors and other construction products. Ladders and access equipment. Garden tools. Furniture. Food processors, cooking and kitchen equipment. Heating and lighting. Electrical, gas, oil and solid fuel appliances. Barbecues. Cigarette lighters. Cycles. Clothing. Protective equipment. Stairlifts and mobility aids. Exercise, sports and leisure equipment. Packaging. Labels, warnings and instructions. Products used in rented accommodation, hotels, hostels, hospitals and schools or installed in public access areas.
Dr Hayward has over 30 years experience of investigating product safety issues, having previously been employed in the Department of Trade and Industry’s Consumer Safety Unit. Recruited to evaluate Government Safety Regulations and Product Safety Policies, he subsequently gained a wide experience of product standards, home safety promotion, sports injury statistics and accident analysis through a succession of appointments, including Hazard Analysis Manager and Deputy Head of Research and became the UK Government representative in relation to many product safety standards issues.
He remains active in a wide range of consumer product safety standards issues, and continues to contribute articles to a variety of professional media, having been a guest editor of leading international journal “Accident Analysis and Prevention.” He has been appointed a Scientific Advisor on Risk Assessment by the European Commission and is listed in "Who's who in science & engineering"
A chartered Mechanical Engineer recognised by both the UK and European governing bodies for the engineering profession, and a Registered Consultant Member of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, he is Individual Member of the British Standards Institution and was a Founding Individual Member of the Expert Witness Institute. He has a first degree in engineering from the University of Cambridge and a doctorate in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the University of Birmingham.