Comparing closure compliance and ease of use for consumer product packs designed to reduce access to children

by Annalise Richmond, David C. Schwebel, Clara Ng Pak Leung, Elke Vallez, Heidi Lesage, Raf Degeyter, Zhiwu Liang, Gerard Stijntjes Child impeding packs are difficult for children to open so protect them from unintended access to hazardous contents inside the pack. However, if packs are difficult for adults to open, in normal usage scenarios, this may result in a higher occurrence of packs being left open. This research explor es differences in ease of usage and closure compliance between two types of child impeding packs of liquid laundry detergent capsules. The two packs, “Pinch& Lift ” and “Press& Lift ”, had different opening and closing mechanisms. “Press& Lift ” also included an audible “click” signal to confirm complete closure to the user. The research was performed across two studies. In both studies, the packs were used in participants’ homes according to their usual storage and usage practices as replacements to their current liquid laundry d etergent capsule pack. All participants had small children living with them in their household. In Study 1, self-reported closure and ease of use data was collected from 99 adult participants in Germany. They used each package in their home for 10 days. Study 2 extended Study 1 by measuring closure rates with an objective assessment using in pack sensors for a 10-day period for each pack. Self-reported closure and ease of use data were also collected. Study 2 was conducted with 87 participants in the United ...
Source: PLoS One - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Source Type: research