‘Women in Product Safety Leadership’
Plenary session 8: ‘Women in Product Safety Leadership’ featured speakers from the Toy Association, Exponent, Safe Kids Worldwide, GE Appliances and the legal industry.
The panel gave attendees an opportunity to hear from five women who have been in the product safety space for a number of years and took leadership roles in their respective fields. The panel described both the challenges and opportunities facing women in product safety – across engineering, advocacy and policy.
For first-time attendees, particularly those just starting out in their careers, the panel offered a unique opportunity to hear more about different paths in product safety, from a diverse group of industry representatives.
Some particularly interesting discussions were had around:
- The importance of role models, particularly for individuals from less-represented backgrounds. Sponsoring someone else’s success is the best gift leaders can give to their teams, or anyone starting out in the product safety world.
- What makes a good leader, with the panel agreeing that authenticity, listening and trust are the key qualities people who want to become leaders should look to develop. Together, these assets empower teams to act, and to work together for the best outcomes.
- Building a ‘trusted advisor’ role, whether that is backed by science or by knowledge of other similar scenarios in the market. This inspires confidence with both internal and external teams and is the ‘gold standard’ of a leader.
- The child safety industry, particularly how it is adapting to new ways of information being shared on children’s products. This presents a great opportunity for advocacy groups to educate parents on child safety, particularly in areas like car seat safety.
The Cooley products team are posting highlights from other plenary panel sessions on our blog throughout the event, which concludes today.
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