Child-safe or child-resistant caps come in a range of solutions, but the dominant solution is a closure which has to be pushed down and turned simultaneously. The idea is that young children have neither the strength nor the dexterity required for this operation. Safe use of such a packaging solution requires that the safety feature is restored to the same condition after re-closing the package. Practice shows however, that child-safe caps also present a challenge to elderly and people with reduced hand function. For them, child-resistant caps are hard to open, which causes the packs to be poorly reclosed (intentionally or unintentionally), or even left open, leading to incidents.
Current solutions are (partly) based on the force to be exerted, but this may not be the best approach. As part of a re-design process of this type of packaging, a theoretical ergonomic assessment was made, combined with a set of expert interviews of academics in the field of packaging ergonomics. It is concluded that the push-and-turn solution is based on physical ergonomic properties that insufficiently distinguish children and intended users. An alternative solution space is mapped and evaluated based on different working principles. An ideal safety cap should utilise a cognitive set of actions and physical ergonomic distinction between children and users with reduced hand function or strength.