You are an engineer for General Power Equipment, Inc. Your work is mainly in research and development. GPE is a medium-sized company that makes machinery powered by small engines and motors, such as lawn mowers, power generators, and pumps. GPE has recently acquired North Star Snow Throwers, an acquisition that seems likely to fit well with the company's other products.

Helen Bergen, the vice president for research and development, has been given the task of integrating North Star into GPE. She asks you to come to a meeting in her office. When you enter her office, you find Jack Kumagai, of GPE's legal staff already there.

Helen greets you, but she has a worried look on her face. She has some printouts in front of her. "Jack and I have just been going over this information that I got off the Web," she says. "Do you know that snow throwers are an open invitation to litigation? Listen to this:

"'Last year there were over a thousand amputations caused by snow throwers and over 5,000 emergency room visits resulting from their use. These things kill people. People get caught in them or run them in the garage and die from carbon monoxide.'"

"Are North Star snow throwers more dangerous than any other?" you ask.

"Not really," answers Jack. "but the warnings on their machines and the instructions in their manuals are inadequate in my opinion."

"That's where you come in," Helen says to you. "We want to avoid litigation,...