CPSC warns public on fidget spinner risks
August 10, 2017, cpsc.gov
As the Consumer Product Safety Commission investigates some reported incidents associated with the popular product, Chairman-designate Ann Marie Buerkle warns fidget spinner users or potential buyers to take precautions. She advises that parents or caregivers keep them from small children as the plastic and metal spinners can break and release small pieces that can be a choking hazard. She advised that older children should not put fidget spinners in their mouths. The agency has established a fidget spinner information center in light of the growing number of incidents being reported.
Feds might force table-saw makers to adopt radically safer technology
August 10, 2017 Arstechnica.com
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is considering whether to make physicist Stephen Gass’ technology a mandatory standard in the table-saw industry. Technology that Gass invented in 1999 gives his blade a slight electric charge, so that his saw is able to detect contact with a human hand and stop spinning in a few milliseconds. In 2015, 4,700 people lost a finger due to table-saw accidents. The CPSC Commissioners approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in April to consider a mandatory standard for the table saw industry.
NY Companies banned from selling toys, Feds cite lead, other dangers
August 4, 2017, NBC 4-New York
Federals prosecutors have banned several New York City-based companies from importing and selling toys and children’s products deemed dangerous. The products imported via the Ports of Newark/New York and Los Angeles/Long Beach had lead, phthalates and small parts posing a choking hazard for young children, the Department of Justice says,
Cape FD: Hoverboard’s lithium battery to blame for fire that shut down mall
August 7, 2017, Southeast Missourian
A hoverboard fire at a mall in Southeast Missouri was caused by a lithium battery inside the hoverboard overheating and catching fire, according to a Cape Girardeau Fire Department report. The incident caused $4,000 of light smoke damage to West Park Mall, according to the report. It also caused the mall to shut down during one of the year’s busiest shopping days — the Saturday during the back-to-school state sales tax holiday weekend.
Product Safety Professionals presenting Prop 65 webinar by national expert
August 9, 2017, Society of Product Safety Professionals
The Society of Product Safety Professionals, in cooperation with Saint Louis University’s Emerson Leadership Institute, convenes a free webinar on August 29 at 12 Noon EDT: “Proposition 65: Old Challenges, New Developments, and Compliance Strategies for Product Manufacturers, Distributors and Retailers.” In 1986, California enacted Proposition 65 requiring warnings about potential exposures to chemicals in products. Reviewing the history of the regulation, and anticipated changes that will go into effect in 2018, regulatory attorney Peter Hsiao will share insights into compliance strategies. Hsiao is partner and head of the Environmental and Energy Group in Los Angeles for Morrison & Foerster, LLP, one of California’s oldest and largest law firms and nationally recognized experts in Proposition 65.
The Dangers of consumer products to Israelis children
August 7, 2017, Jerusalem Post
Israelis were exposed to an information initiative on product safety, highlight by CPSC Commissioner Marietta Robinson recent visit to that country. She provides context and background to Jerusalem Post readers on the U.S. approach to product safety as the world and consumers’ lives fill up with more and more consumer products, and the risk of being hurt by those that are badly designed, poorly made or carelessly used rises.
Vermont: Chemical oversight panel to be formed
August 9, 2017, Times Argus
Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order Tuesday to create the Vermont Interagency Committee on Chemical Management, which will review chemical regulations and policies in Vermont. The committee created by executive order will look to ensure compliance with laws regulating chemical use in the state and try to reduce risks posed to Vermonters from the use or storage of unsafe chemicals. The committee “will incorporate the expertise of state agencies and outside experts who will participate in the citizen advisory panel,” according to Scott’s office.
Court strikes down Montgomery County’s ban on lawn pesticides
August 3, 2017, Washington Post
A Montgomery Circuit Court judge on Thursday overturned the county’s ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides on lawns, dealing a major setback to environmental advocates who argued that chemicals in the products are unsafe. The judge claimed the ban would conflict with federal and Maryland state regulations that allow the use of the pesticides. The case was just one example of Maryland counties’ “insatiable appetite to tamper with existing state laws,” Judge Terrence McGann said.
Fair ride safety top of mind after deadly accident in Ohio
August 3, 2017, wsmv.com (NBC)
Ride safety is top of mind after a ride at the Ohio State Fair malfunctioned in July, killing an 18-year-old who had just enlisted in the Marines. Seven people were injured. The ride that came apart was known as the Fireball. It has since been banned in Tennessee and several other states. Tennessee law requires rides to be inspected once a year, but inspections done in other states count, even though rides are often torn down, moved, and set up over and over again without being re-inspected by a third party.
Local family campaigns for pool safety following close call
August 3, 2017, Sun Community News
A New York family’s summer swimming routine turned nightmarish when a 6-year-old child’s hair got sucked into an underwater intake unit in their backyard pool. The family later learned that the scenario could have been avoided due to recent changes in regulatory safeguards. A federal law passed in 2008 requires suction covers to be brought into compliance with new regulations. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act is named after Graeme Baker, a 7-year-old girl who drowned in June 2002 when the suction from a spa drain trapped her underwater.
