Unsafe consumers products cost the US economy $1 trillion each year
July 11, 2018, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
When people are injured or killed by hazardous consumer products, society pays – economically as well as emotionally – and in the United States the price tag comes to around $1 trillion each year, according to Richard O’Brien of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Mr. O’Brien, who was speaking on 10 July at UNCTAD’s Intergovernmental group of experts (IGE) on consumer protection law and policy, said the yearly economic drag of unsafe children’s toys and faulty stepladders, for example, comes to about $2,800 per person. To put that in perspective, he said the figure is equal to the entire per capita GDP of 39 countries.
Laundry packet safety standard group reviews new data, researchers note progress
July 12,2018, Markets Business Insider
At a meeting of stakeholders involved in ASTM International, a global standards organization, researchers shared data and expressed progress related to a 2015 safety standard for labeling and packaging laundry packets, an increasingly popular consumer product. The group, known as the subcommittee on liquid laundry packets, reviewed two analyses that tracked: total number of exposures, rate of exposures adjusted for the population of children under six, and the rate of exposures adjusted for sales volume.
Latches on older Lane cedar chests may still pose danger
July 12, 2018, News Advance
Federal consumer-safety officials are renewing a warning for owners of certain older Lane and Virginia Maid brand cedar chests to immediately replace or remove the latch and lock on the chests, saying they pose a danger to children. The lids on these chests made between 1912 and 1987 automatically lock when they’re closed and were designed to provide airtight protection from moth damage. Between 1977 and 2015, 14 children suffocated to death inside such chests, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Lane chests made after 1987 do not automatically latch.
Are you ready for fast approaching Prop 65 Amendments?
July 12, 2018, EHS Daily Advisor
Proposition 65, or Prop 65, product-safety warnings, once eye-catching and nerve-wracking, have become so ubiquitous that many would contend they have lost their intended effect.
Many businesses, facing steep penalties for non-compliance, appear to have adopted the practice of slapping a Prop 65 warning label on every product—even if the product does not trigger Prop 65 warning requirements—just to be safe from bounty hunting, class action lawyers. Appearing on everything from hotel room doors to padlocks to coffee shops, many Californians disregard Prop 65 warnings. However, change is brewing. Significant Prop 65 amendments take effect on August 30, 2018, and will alter, among other things, labeling requirements, warning responsibilities, and safe-harbor protections
Massachusetts advances flame retardant ban
July 11, 2018, Chemical Watch
Massachusetts’ senate has approved a bill to ban certain flame retardants from children’s products and home furnishings. The measure (S2555) is aimed at residential upholstered furniture, bedding, carpeting, window treatments and products intended for children less than 12 years old. If passed into law, it would prohibit the sale of such items if they contain, in any component part, more than 1,000 parts per million of any of the following substances or their analogues:
Six Flags St. Louis Waterslide Injury Highlights Lax Regulation
July 6, 2018, CBS Local
No government officials conducted a safety inspection of a new waterslide at Six Flags St. Louis before a woman said she suffered whiplash last month from the force of the “Typhoon Twister” that featured a five-story drop and a “45-foot zero gravity wave wall.” Officials said it’s no surprise that the slide didn’t have to pass a government safety review, even though an estimated 80 million people flock to about 1,000 water parks in the U.S. every year. The ride is exempt from a Missouri law regulating amusement rides passed in 2004.
Opinion: Parents–Don’t park your safety concerns when you take your child to the amusement park
July 11, 2018, MinnPost
If you’re planning on taking your children to an amusement park this summer, be sure you talk with them about safety issues, including what they should do if they get lost. And if you see ride operators acting unsafely — such as not enforcing height requirement rules or talking on a cellphone while operating a ride — be ready to report that behavior to the amusement park’s manager.
A significant number of parents do not do either of those things, according to a survey taken earlier this spring by researchers at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
New and Emerging Technologies: Challenging Existing Product Liability Rules
July, 2018, Who’s Who Legal
New and emerging technologies – such as autonomous, self-learning and artificially intelligent products, advanced robotics and the Internet of Things – are an increasing feature across a variety of sectors, including transport, healthcare, agriculture, IT, data management and communications. Such technologies offer a range of societal and economic benefits, from prevention of human error and failure, and improved safety, to increased productivity and economic growth.
Consumer group calls on local governments to stop using toxic chemicals on grounds and public parks
July 12, 2018, WXXI News
The Empire State Consumer Project has published its 2018 Government Pesticide Survey, highlighting the hazards of common pesticides used on local government properties. President of the group, Judy Braiman, said through a freedom of information request, they received information from 31 municipalities on herbicide and insecticide use. Braiman says many of the pesticides can cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm in humans.
Nissan Joins the List of Automakers caught in Emissions Scandals
July 13, 2018, Sanvada
Nissan has joined the increasing list of manufacturers who have admitted to the falsification of fuel economy figures. It stated it uncovered the falsified data from car exhaust emission tests carried out at several plants based in Japan currently. Apparently, the inspection tests were based according to altered measurement values.
Compliance can make or break your company’s reputation
July 10, 2018, Forbes
For many in the C-suite, compliance is something they know is important but don’t deeply understand. Compliance is often viewed as a necessary evil that hinders business, but compliance is essential to your business’s success. Having strong compliance officers on staff to make sure regulations are followed is critical, but that doesn’t mean the C-suite can totally check out. There are five essential things that top tech leaders must understand when it comes to compliance. What’s more, tech leaders can play an integral role in helping safeguard against misconduct at the top — often working alongside compliance officers to ensure the business has a strong regulatory structure with executive buy-in.
