Straight from the Source: An Analysis of Reports on Children’s Products at SaferProducts.gov By Avital Datskovsky Kids In Danger September 2011 116 W. Illinois, Suite 5E Chicago, IL 60654 www.KidsInDanger.org 312.595.0649 [email protected] Straight from the Source Executive Summary Since our founding in 1998, KID has been frustrated with the secrecy at the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Consumer reports of product related incidents or injuries were kept secret until and unless there was a recall. By that time, too many other consumers are using the product and may have been injured. As part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) passed in 2008, Congress mandated that CPSC set up a public database – allowing consumers to report incidents and to review reports from others. CPSC worked hard to set up a system that provided information in a timely manner, while maintaining the veracity of the reports. This summer, KID looked at the first four months of data from the system in Straight from the Source: An analysis of the reports on children’s products at Saferproducts.gov. Our findings include: • About 20% of the reports to CPSC during the period involve children’s products or injuries to children. • Injuries were reported in 44% of the incidents involving children. Thirty percent of those reports involved injuries requiring medical treatment and 2% involved a death (7). • One might expect reports of injuries from higher risk products such as trampolines and pogo sticks and there were many. But, the injuries reported were for product failures, not just from use or misuse of the product. Consumers are using the database for its intended purpose – to alert CPSC and others to product defects or hazards. • Most alarmingly, many of the reports and injuries involved products that had been recalled. One in seven reports involved a recalled product, with most of the incidents happening after the product was recalled. KID has long maintained that an ineffective recall system leaves dangerous products in consumers’ hands. The data in SaferProducts.gov bears that out. With new standards, testing requirements and attention to safety reducing the number of recalls needed, CPSC and advocates can turn their attention to making those that do happen more effective. Straight from the Source, September 2011 1 Straight from the Source: An analysis of the reports on children’s products at Saferproducts.gov Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Report .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 3 Category Definitions ................................................................................................................... 3 Initial Findings ............................................................................................................................ 4 Table A: Reports by Category ................................................................................................ 4 Ages affected .............................................................................................................................. 4 Table B: Reports by Age ......................................................................................................... 5 Injuries and Deaths ..................................................................................................................... 5 Table C: Injuries by Child’s Age ............................................................................................ 5 Table D: Incidents Per Category; Including Injuries and Deaths ........................................... 6 Table E: Incidents per Hazard Type; Including Injuries and Death ....................................... 6 Apparent vs. Unexpected Risks .................................................................................................. 7 Recalled Products ........................................................................................................................ 7 Table F: Incidents of Recalled Products Per Category; Including Injuries and Deaths .......... 7 Repeat Offenders ........................................................................................................................ 8 Table G. Multiple Product Reports; includes Number of Injuries and Deaths ....................... 8 Table H. Incidents of Several Models by the Same Company; Includes Number of Total Incidents Reported and Number Recalled .............................................................................. 9 Manufacturer Response .............................................................................................................. 9 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 10 Straight from the Source, September 2011 2 Introduction SaferProducts.gov is the publically available consumer product safety information database of the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC. Launched in March 2011, the site allows consumers to report hazard complaints with products as well as review other product safety reports before purchasing an item. SaferProducts.gov was mandated under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) passed in 2008 after flaws in the product safety system came to light through a series of recalls and news reports. Consumers and others with knowledge of an incident can submit reports, which include information on the product and the manufacturer, as well as a description of the incident. Manufacturers then have ten days to respond to the complaint before the report is made public. Since its launch, SaferProducts.gov has seen over 2,000 reports with over 400 of the reports referring to children’s products. This report examines the database filings on products affecting children from April 1, 2011 to August 4, 2011 to identify injury patterns from the data and action steps needed. Report Methodology KID downloaded the 2,432 reports released between April 1, 2011 and August 4, 2011 and then went through each report, carefully separating the reports on children’s products or products that were hazardous for children from all other reports. KID then checked the CPSC website for each children’s product mentioned to see if that product had been recalled. KID also looked for multiple reports on the same model (since the model number is not always included in the report) and noted any repeat offenders. The information in this report was culled from primary source consumer reports submitted to SaferProducts.gov. It does not include subsequent information CPSC may find in an investigation. To avoid using words such as ‘reported’ and ‘alleged’ repeatedly, this caveat applies to the full report. Category Definitions In reviewing the data, KID used the following categories: General Products Jewelry Art & School Supplies Nursery Clothing Outdoor & Sports Diapers Toys Furniture Other Straight from the Source, September 2011 3 General Products refer to products for the general public that were reported for potential harm to children, such as a detergent without a child safety cap. Diapers were separated because of a large number of reports from a specific brand. Nursery refers to products used in the care of infants and toddlers such as strollers, cribs, baby jumpers, baby exercisers, high chairs, and pacifiers. Other refers to products that did not fit in any other category—such as outlet covers to prevent a shock hazard. Initial Findings Approximately 20% of the reports during the period studied referred to children’s products or products that were harmful to children. Forty-three percent of these reports involved nursery products and 25% named toys. The chart below shows the additional categories as well. Table A: Reports by Category Reports by Category Toys Nursery Clothing Adult Products Diapers Furniture Outdoor & Other Sports Jewelry Art & School Supplies Ages affected Of the reports involving children or children’s products, 22% did not list an age of the child. The reports were broken up into age categories representing infants and toddlers (0-2), preschoolers (3-5), school-age children (6-12), teens (13-19) and adults (20+). Only 15% of the reports were for ages six and up. Fifty percent of the reports were for incidents involving children under 3. The chart below shows the age breakdown of the reports. Straight from the Source, September 2011 4 Table B: Reports by Age Reports by Age no info 22% Adults 0‐2 5% Teens 50% 1% 6‐12 9% 3‐5 13% Injuries and Deaths Forty-four percent of the incidents included a reported injury or a death. Sixty-eight percent of the injuries were minor, 30% required treatment and 2% resulted in death. See table below for injury breakdown by age. Table C: Injuries by Child’s Age Injuries by Age 12 and over 7% 6‐12 13% 3‐5 20% 0‐2 60% Straight from the Source, September 2011 5 Sixty percent of incidents resulting in an injury or a death affected children under 3. Twenty percent of the incidents affected 3-5 year olds, 13% school age children and 7% over 12. Below is a listing of the number of reports in each category (both recalled and not) and the number of people they have