Product Liability Lawyer Blog
Summer is a time for cookouts on the grill. Unfortunately, a fun outdoor barbecue could quickly turn into a devastating disaster if something goes wrong with a grill. Grills could be dangerous not only while in use, but also while simply being stored near your home. Explosions and serious burns can occur if a grill malfunctions, and sometimes injuries from malfunctioning grills are fatal. 
If you or a loved one suffers an injury due to any type of problem with a grill that is being used, the manufacturer, distributors and others involved with the production or sale of the grill can be held legally liable for damages. A Boston product liability lawyer can assist victims of grilling injuries in pursuing a claim for compensation by proving they were hurt as a direct result of a problem with a grill they were utilizing.
Malfunctioning Grills Present a Big Risk at BBQ
According to NBC News, grilling injuries send around 18,000 people to the hospital over the course of a single summer. Serious burns, out-of-control flames and grill explosions are among the many reasons why people get hurt because of a grill. Unstable grills can also collapse, causing bad burns, while gas grills could have problems with tanks leaking or combusting.
Gas grills are the most popular type of grill, with around 8.5 million gas grills in North America shipping in just one year, compared with 6.1 millions charcoal grills. While both types of grills create a risk of burn injuries, gas grills are more dangerous in many ways than charcoal grills because of the combustibility of the gas and the danger of breathing in the gas if there is a tank leak.
Approximately one-third of all injuries sustained with gas grills occur when a user is lighting the grill, NBC reports. “It usually goes like this: A griller lights the gas, thinks everything is fine — and then looks up to find an inferno.”
Grill users should follow manufacturer instructions for safely starting the grill, assuming the manufacturer provided directions for use. If a manufacturer fails to warn a consumer of the risks or if the manufacturer provides unsafe instructions for use, the company could be held accountable when grillers get hurt.
Unfortunately, even the most careful griller is at risk because of defects with grills. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued 24 separate recalls between 2005 and 2010 due to problems like faulty burners, heat shields which did not work properly, and missing hoses. In 2009 alone, 663,000 grills sold at Lowes had to be recalled due to problems with the grill burners.
Even if grillers do make mistakes, manufactures could still be held accountable if the grill user’s errors amounted to foreseeable misuse – which means the griller was likely to use it in that way – and the grill was designed or produced in manner in which the consumer was likely to be hurt when grilling. Because of broad liability rules for product manufacturers, anyone who is hurt by a grill should talk with an experienced attorney to find out if they can pursue a product defect claim to recover compensation for their damages.
If you are the victim of Massachusetts product liability, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Great balls of fire! A Grill Injury Can Ruin Your Cookout, July 2, 2010, By JoNel Aleccia, NBC
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