UNITED STATES CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal regulatory agency whose primary mission is to insure that consumer products are safe to use and will not cause injuries or death.

The CPSC was created in 1972 by Congress as part of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA). Congress directed the CPSC to "protect the public against unreasonable risks of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products." The commission has jurisdiction over about 15,000 types of consumer products—from automatic-drip coffee makers to toys to lawn mowers. (Other federal agencies have jurisdiction over certain specific products, such as motor vehicles, foods, drugs, cosmetics, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, pesticides, aircraft, and boats.)

The CPSC enforces other laws in addition to the Consumer Product Safety Act. The Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) requires the labeling of hazardous household substances. A 1988 amendment to the FHSA, the Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act, requires special labeling of certain art materials. The 1994 Child Safety Protection Act pertains to toys, balls, and other possible choking hazards to children. Under that act, the CPSC also developed a bicycle helmet safety standard. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act requires child-resistant packaging for certain drugs and hazardous household substances. The CPSC also issues and enforces regulations under the Flammable Fabrics Act and the Refrigerator Safety Act.

The president of the United States nominates the CPSC commissioners, who must be confirmed by the Senate. One of these commissioners serves as chairman. While the CPSA provides for five commissioners, in recent years Congress has appropriated money only for three.

MECHANISMS OF CONSUMER SAFETY

To accomplish its mission to reduce the unreasonable risk of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products, the CPSC has certain tools at its disposal.

Recalls. The CPSC can initiate recalls of dangerous consumer products, resulting in their repair, replacement, or a refund of their purchase price. Every year, hundreds of products with safety, or potential safety, problems are recalled. The commission is especially vigilant about checking for potentially unsafe toys and children's products.

Mandatory Safety Standards. The CPSC issues and enforces mandatory safety standards. For example, to reduce deaths and injuries associated with children under age five who play with cigarette lighters, a mandatory safety standard was established requiring disposable and novelty lighters to be child-resistant. The CPSC can also ban consumer products if no feasible standard would adequately protect the public, and it can seek civil and criminal penalties against companies that break the law.

Voluntary Standards. The CPSC works with industry to develop many voluntary safety standards. This method was used to develop a voluntary safety standard on baby walkers, making them less likely to fall down stairs. In addition, the CPSC may ensure safer products by meeting with companies and getting them to agree to change their product. This happened in addressing the problem of young children strangling in the loops of window blind and curtain cords. The commission met with manufacturers and persuaded them to eliminate the loops in these cords. The industry later adopted a voluntary safety standard.

Research. The CPSC conducts research on potential product hazards. CPSC scientists and researchers look for new or emerging consumer product hazards and try to find solutions to existing product hazards. Since the 1970s, the CPSC has operated the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which tracks injuries in U.S. hospital emergency departments and allows the commission to make national injury estimates. The NEISS often serves as an early-warning system about problems with specific consumer products.

Communication/Partnerships. The CPSC communicates with and educates the public by working with the media, state and local governments, and private organizations; and by responding to consumer inquiries. The commission also develops cooperative partnerships with businesses and other organizations to create public health campaigns on many issues. For example, in cooperation with a national baby products company, a grassroots program called Baby Safety Showers was implemented. This program, conducted in hundreds of cities across the country, teaches young parents how to keep their babies safe.

The CPSC is located in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and has field offices throughout the country. To learn more about the commission and to obtain information about a wide variety of home safety issues, consumers can visit CPSC's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov, or call its toll-free hotline at 1–800-638–2772.

Ann Brown

(see also: Childhood Injury )

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), United States

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal agency designed to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injuries and deaths associated with consumer products. Congress established the commission in 1972, as part of the Consumer Product Safety Act. The CPSC regulates more than 15,000 types of consumer products, from coffee pots to toys. The commission's jurisdiction, however, is limited. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles are governed by the U.S. Department of Transportation; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) oversees cosmetics, food and drugs. Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms fall under the domain of the U.S. Treasury Department.

Since its inception, the CPSC has conducted research on potential product hazards and vigorously pursued and enforced mandatory standards on many consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Act requires manufacturers to report serious product defects in a timely manner. Failure to do so can result in civil penalties. In 2001, the commission fined Fisher-Price $1.1 million on charges that it failed to disclose a fire hazard in a popular toy. The fine was the largest against a toy firm in CPSC's history.

Product recalls are one of the most familiar actions of the CPSC. Recall information is posted on the commission's Web site and circulated throughout the news media. One of the largest recalls in recent history involved 650,000 baby strollers that collapsed while in use. The CPSC and Ohio-based Century Products announced the historical recall after hundreds of children suffered injuries.

The backbone of the CPSC is the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). The system compiles data on consumer product-related injuries occurring in the U.S., as documented by hospital emergency departments. Such data allow the CPSC to make timely national estimates of the number of injuries associated with, although not necessarily caused by, specific consumer products. CPSC analysts study the data for important clues to the cause and potential prevention of injuries.

The Washington, D.C. headquartered agency has an operating budget of approximately $56 million and employs approximately 480 people. In 2002, President George W. Bush nominated attorney Hal Stratton as the eighth chairman of the agency.

█ FURTHER READING:

ELECTRONIC:

Consumer Product Safety Commission "Who We Are; What We Do For You." December 12, 2002 <http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/103.html> (December 10, 2002).

SEE ALSO

ATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms)
FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration)
NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)

CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

The consumer product safety commission was established to protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury from consumer products; to assist consumers in evaluating the comparative safety of consumer products; to develop uniform safety standards for consumer products and to minimize conflicting state and local regulations; and to promote research and investigation into the causes and prevention of product-related deaths, illnesses, and injuries. The commission is an independent federal regulatory agency, established by the act of October 27, 1972 (86 Stat. 1207). It makes information available to the public through its Web site, <http://www.cpsc.gov>.

The commission has primary responsibility for establishing mandatory product-safety standards in order to reduce the unreasonable risk of injury to consumers from consumer products. It also has the authority to ban hazardous consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq. [1972]) authorizes the commission to conduct extensive research on consumer product standards, to engage in broad consumer, industry information, and education programs, and to establish a comprehensive injury-information clearinghouse.

In addition to the authority created by the act, the commission assumes responsibility for the Flammable Fabrics Act (67 Stat. 111; 15 U.S.C. 1191), the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (84 Stat. 1670), the Hazardous Substances Act (74 Stat. 372; 15 U.S.C. 1261), and the act of August 2, 1956 (70 Stat. 953; 15 U.S.C. 1211), which prohibits the transportation of refrigerators without door-safety devices. The act also provides for petitioning of the commission by any interested person, including consumers or consumer organizations, to commence proceedings for the issuance, amendment, or revocation of a consumer product safety rule.

In 1999, the commission introduced a new interactive section for children, on its web site. Geared toward children between the ages of 8 and 12, it features games and puzzles that are designed to test children's knowledge of safety and to teach them safety facts.

cross-references

Consumer Protection.