CPSC Annual Report to Congress for Fiscal Year 2001
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CONTENTS Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 CPSC Highlights..............................................................................................................................2 Compliance Activities .........................................................................................................2 Import Surveillance..............................................................................................................2 Recall Round-Up .................................................................................................................2 Poison Prevention ................................................................................................................2 Dive Sticks...........................................................................................................................3 Mattresses/Bedding..............................................................................................................3 Upholstered Furniture..........................................................................................................3 Smoke Alarm Research........................................................................................................3 Playground Hazards.............................................................................................................4 Civil Penalties......................................................................................................................4 Media Activities...................................................................................................................4 Consumer Support ...............................................................................................................4 APPENDICES Appendix A: Deaths, Injuries, and Cost of Injuries from Consumer Products A-1 Appendix B: Policies, Final Regulations, and Proposed Regulations B-1 Appendix C: Meetings of Substantial Interest C-1 Appendix D: Log and Status of Petitions and Applications D-1 Appendix E: Voluntary Standards Activities E-1 Appendix F: Voluntary Corrective Action Plans and Product Recalls F-1 Subsection A/Regulatory Recalls Subsection B/Section 15 Recalls Appendix G: Litigation and Settlements G-1 Appendix H: Index of Products Regulated by CPSC H-1 Appendix I: Federal-State Cooperative Program I-1 Appendix J: Organizational Structure and Functions J-1 i Introduction The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent federal regulatory agency created to protect the public from unreasonable risks of injuries and deaths associated with some 15,000 types of consumer products. CPSC works to reduce the risk of injuries and deaths from consumer products by: ● developing voluntary standards with industry ● issuing and enforcing mandatory standards; banning hazardous consumer products if no feasible standard would adequately protect the public ● obtaining the recall of products or arranging for their repair ● conducting research on potential product hazards ● informing consumers through the media, state and local governments, private organizations, and by responding to consumer inquiries. The 2001 Annual Report to Congress gives brief highlights of the Commission’s accomplishments for fiscal year 2001. The highlights are followed by a set of Appendices that present more detailed information on the year’s activities of the agency to keep Americans safe. 1 CPSC Highlights Compliance Activities In fiscal year 2001, CPSC announced 341 recalls involving nearly 90 million consumer product units that either violated mandatory safety standards or presented a substantial risk of injury to the public. These recalls included 35 million fire sprinklers which could fail to activate, more than 13.4 million cigarette lighters with ineffective child-resistant mechanisms, and 9 million chest freezers that could suffocate children who become trapped inside. Other major recalls include 7.4 million car seats/carriers with handles that can break, 3.8 million fast food restaurant toys that pose a choking hazard, 3.7 million radial arm saws sold without guards, and 2 million faulty gun locks. Import Surveillance Working together, CPSC and the U.S. Customs Service refused admission into the U.S., or detained for reconditioning or destruction, more than 360 shipments of imported consumer products that did not meet U.S. safety standards. As a result, nearly 15 million dangerous product units that violated CPSC safety standards never reached store shelves. Many of these dangerous products are fireworks. Working with the U.S. Customs Service since 1988, CPSC has seized or detained more than 400 million hazardous fireworks at the docks. Recall Round-Up Recall Round-Up, held on April 17, 2001, proved once again to be CPSC’s most successful single-event federal-state-local partnership program. The Recall Round-Up program is a nationwide effort to publicize previously recalled consumer products and urge people to remove the products from their homes. The campaign focused on products that present a risk of fire injury to consumers such as old disposable lighters, frayed extension cords, lamps and appliances. CPSC standards and compliance activities have contributed to a decline in fires and fire deaths over the past several years. For example, CPSC's standard for child-resistant lighters has helped reduce fire deaths from children playing with lighters by 43 percent since 1994. CPSC enlisted the help of fire marshals, fire departments, state and local officials, and national and state health and safety organizations, including the Congressional Fire Caucus. Nearly 2,000 fire stations across the country served as collection sites for hazardous products such as old disposable cigarette lighters and frayed extension cords. Governors, state health officials, and grassroots organizations also helped publicize the safety campaign and distribute information about the hazardous products. Poison Prevention In 2001, the Commission issued a regulation under the Poison Prevention Packaging Act to require child-resistant packaging for oral prescription drug products that are granted over-the-counter status by the Food and Drug Administration. This new regulation will assure that children continue to be protected from serious injury from drugs that are granted over-the-counter status. Previously, oral prescription drugs required child-resistant packaging when they were available by prescription, but 2 not when they were granted over-the-counter status. The Commission had to regulate each drug separately. CPSC also participated in the 40th observance of National Poison Prevention Week. Dive Sticks In March 2001, the Commission issued a final rule for dive sticks, which bans dive sticks with certain characteristics that cause them to be hazardous. Dive sticks are usually cylindrical in shape and are used in swimming pools for underwater retrieval games and swimming instruction. They have typically been made of rigid plastic material and they stand upright at the bottom of the swimming pool. Because of these characteristics, children have been severely injured when they jumped in shallow water and landed on the upright dive stick. The ban leaves allows alternative dive sticks without the dangerous characteristics. Mattresses/Bedding CPSC continued work with NIST and the Sleep Products Safety Council to develop the technical basis for a performance standard to address open flame ignitions of mattresses and bedding. Among all products within the Commission’s jurisdiction, mattress/bedding fires are one of the leading causes of injury and are second only to upholstered furniture in the number of fire deaths. Upholstered Furniture CPSC continued to make progress to address fire hazards related to upholstered furniture. The staff completed studies of the flammability performance of different materials and of potential health effects associated with flame retardant (FR) treatments that might be used to meet a small open flame performance standard. The staff shared its technical research and revised draft standard with voluntary standards organizations, and met with industry groups to discuss their concerns and encourage continuing development of voluntary alternatives. The staff also continued to work with the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a possible Significant New Use Rule for FR upholstery treatments, with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to evaluate potential worker safety issues related to FR chemical use, and with the California Bureau of Home Furnishings to revise that State’s existing furniture flammability standard. Smoke Alarm Research CPSC continued partnerships with the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to sponsor smoke alarm research. In 2001, NIST began evaluating the effectiveness of current and emerging smoke alarm technologies in responding to the most common serious residential fires and in resisting the most common causes of nuisance alarms. Initial full-scale tests were completed in a typical manufactured home and two-story brick home with upholstered furniture, mattress, and cooking oil fires. Testing will be completed in 2002, and in 2003, CPSC will develop recommendations to improve