Engaging with Product Safety Expert, Gary Bell

Gary Bell, is a consumer product safety consultant with special expertise in the "duty to warn" area. He led the development of ANSI Z535 standards in signage and labels. He has served on numerous standards panels and subcommittees, including for Underwriter Labs and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ATSM). In This Episode... Gary Bell discussed what he refers to as the role of intangibles, "I call them the emotional balance and the role of the intangibles, the things that you're going to run into and how to keep your head straight." Being in the right mental state is crucial in the role of the expert. He remarks, "[the] expert has to play between confidence and hubris, emotion and empathy."Additionally, we talked about the practical differences among locations. Gary states, "Attorneys prep their experts in different ways . . . a lot depends on the jurisdiction and the court that you're in.” Other topics are empathy instead of sympathy, maintaining expertise, and underestimating opposition.