It’s a popular S-phrase: keep out of reach of children. Most product categories from insect repellents to fireworks carry this safety warning prominently to avert any untoward incident in consumers’ homes.
One man’s danger sign became another’s opportunity. As the major threat to a child’s safety is only when it manages to open a package of a potentially hazardous product, fast-moving consumer goods major Unilever saw an opportunity to turn fear into advantage. It innovated with “child-resistant packaging” in its floor cleaner range internationally known as Domestos.
The innovation was in the cap of the container. It could not be opened by just turning it anti-clockwise – an act that most children master before they graduate from kindergarten. Instead the consumer had to press the sides of the cap and then turn it anti-clockwise – the dual action making it child-proof for the average prankster. After-use: Close cap tightly until you hear a small click.
Hindustan Unilever executives say that the cap design was tested with children as well as adults and is certified. The new design of the child-resistant cap was introduced with Domex, as the brand is known in India, in 2010.