liability, safety, overseas

Hi all,

I am becoming involved in a project re-fitting old machines for the dairy industry into shiny new fast machines. They are based in New Zealand but will be commissioned and sold into the US market. The company director has lots of experience in doing just this, but I have raised questions around such things as a) who has appraised the SIL/CAT rating of the machine (usually I get an independent audit here in NZ if I am not sure myself) b) is integrated safety OK in US and Canada? c)where does the buck stop if something goes wrong, say for example he had told me x about rating, but actually it was y, and now I'm involved.
As I understand it, If I as an electrician refit a machine (controls) under my own company name it is 100% my responsibility to ensure the whole machine is then bought up to current safety standards. I do this anyway.
- If I am programming for someone else who assures me that they have the correct ratings and guards, door switches etc, do I have to be careful about any particular aspects of this as my own company subcontracting to another company?
- I am currently looking into how far my liability insurance extends outside of NZ, I think not at all, does anyone have any recommendations about how I might go about this?
- I have certificates showing that integrated safety is OK in US and Can, is this true? why did he have a machine rehashed 2years ago by a buyer who told him integrated safety was not OK?
- are there any other aspects of what I have mentioned above that ring any little alarm bells?

I have only programmed here in little ol' NZ. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Stew

First off I am not a lawyer.

In broad terms, in the US, the primary responsibility for ensuring safety falls to the employer of the worker injured not the builder of the machine. It's up to the employer to determine if the machine is "safe enough." The legal responsibility is stated as an employer “shall furnish to its employees, employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm”

So, if the buyer doesn't think a machine was "safe enough" then you might have to rework it until they are satisfied. (Or if you lucky, that the international standards to which the machine was build meet or exceed generally accepted safety standards in the US. I've seen cases where newer, better safety systems were replaced with older, tried and true methods that weren't as safe.)

OSHA, the US government agency responsible for workplace safety doesn't automatically recognize international standards as proof of safety.

That being said, the US is a very litigious country, if a worker gets hurt expect to be sued. Of course, you would likely be sued in a US court. If you don't have a corporate presence in the US it might be hard to collect from you. Or if you got sued in NZ then maybe your insurance would cover.

The courts will be the final decider of "safe enough." The employers defense and your defense should be that the machine followed a "national consensus standard." Be sure you are able to document everything you did to ensure safety.

Following international standards will likely shield you from criminal charges but in a civil trial a judge or jury could find that even exceeding the most stringent standards wasn't enough.

I hope this provides some insight but definately consult with a lawyer and your insurance provider to better understand what your liability could be.