CPSC At ICPHSO: 2024 Enforcement Priorities
March 21-24, 2024, JD Supra
The Consumer Product Safety Commission was well represented at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization’s annual symposium in last February Orlando. Agency representatives provided a number of insights to consumer product safety stakeholders. Throughout the symposium, they highlighted the agency’s priorities as presented in the agency’s 2024 Operating Plan, including planned final rules, planned proposed rules and enforcement priorities. In addition to final rules for ATVs and general wearing apparel that it issued earlier this year, CPSC plans to finalize proposed rules for gas furnaces, infant and toddler rockers, infant support cushions, nursing pillows, portable generators, table saws and window covering cords.
Part Two: CPSC at ICPHSO: Office of Compliance Activity
Part Three: CPSC at ICPHSO: E-commerce platforms
Part Four: CPSC at ICPHSO: Reese’s Law
and product safety responsibilities
and Mandatory eFiling Requirement
CPSC Chairman Hoehn-Saric Invited To Keynote 2024 Professional Certification Program At Virginia Tech
March 24, 2024, einpressire
Chairman Alexander Hoehn-Saric is the invited speaker to deliver the keynote address for the 2024 Consumer Product Safety Professional Certification Program at the opening session being held at Virginia Tech’s Research Center in Arlington, Virginia on August 29. The program’s 22-member instructor panel for 2024 includes experts covering areas including organization culture and ethics, risk assessment and hazard analysis, test labs, regulatory compliance, data management and artificial intelligence, product investigations, human factors, and product recall management. CPSC professional staff have been among the course instructors explaining their work at the agency since the Certification program was inaugurated in 2019. Chairman Hoehn-Saric looks to the product safety community for help in achieving the agency’s goals. “CPSC cannot achieve our safety mission alone,” he recently told the International Consumer Product Health Organization (ICPHSO) annual conference in Orlando, Florida.
CPSC Report: Deaths lLnked To Carbon Monoxide From Heaters And Generators Continue To Climb
March 21, 2024, Family Safety & Health
Heaters, portable generators and other related products have sparked an increasing number of carbon monoxide-related deaths, according to a new report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Using 2010-2020 data, researchers estimate that non-fire CO poisoning deaths associated with consumer products under CPSC’s authority rose to an all-time high of 254 in 2019. That total dropped to 211 in 2020, but still exceeds all estimated totals from the previous nine-year period. Generators (92) and portable heaters (33) were linked to the most CO deaths in 2020.
When You Know You Weren’t The First Choice For Your New Role
March 21, 2024, Harvard Business Review
It’s common to experience imposter feelings when taking on a new, more senior role. That negative self-talk can feel justified when you were originally rejected from the job. But you can use this second chance as an opportunity to become a better leader. The author presents four strategies to quiet the imposter syndrome voices in your head if you weren’t the first pick for the job.
Commissioner Boyle On Vote To Advance Proposed Rulemaking On Bassinets And Cradles
March 20, 2024, cpsc.gov
In part, Commissioner Mary Boyle’s statement reads, “The Commission has voted unanimously to advance a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to revise the safety standard for bassinets and cradles. I thank CPSC staff for their work over many years to develop the array of strong safety standards for durable and infant toddler products that CPSC now has on the books.” She goes on to explain, “this latest effort builds on the statutory command that the Commission periodically reviews and revises. These standards ensure that they provide the highest level of safety for such products that is feasible.”
What You Should Do When You Own A Product That Has Been Recalled
March 19, 2024, My Northwest
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced 323 product recalls last year, the most in seven years. Tens of millions of items, including toys, clothing and home appliances, were involved. When a company offers a refund, the information is entered into a new report. However, it can sometimes be difficult to collect the information. “These products are recalled for a wide range of risks, including fire burns, falls, cuts, choking, and suffocation as well as exposure to toxic chemicals,” Herb Weisbaum, contributing editor of checkbook.org told Seattle’s Morning News. “it’s really concerning if people don’t find out about them or pay attention and return the products or stop using them,” he said.
PeopleForBikes Developing Industry Comment On CPSC E-Bike Rulemaking
March 19, 2024, Bike Retailer
Industry group PeopleForBikes will work on a “comprehensive comment” in support of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s decision to address e-bike injury risks with new federal rules. The commenting period will remain open until May 15. “This is the moment the bicycle industry has been waiting for and PeopleForBikes is prepared to respond to this critical call to action,” said Jenn Dice, PeopleForBikes’ president and CEO. PeopleForBikes said it planned to “develop a comprehensive comment in support of reasonable regulatory standards for electric bicycles. The organization’s goals include resolving the various open issues around this technology.”
CPSC: Stop Using Comfi Baby Infant Walkers Due To Fall And Entrapment Hazards; Violations Of Federal Safety Regulations For Infant Walkers; No Recall Or Remedy Available
March 21, 2024, cpsc.gov
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning consumers to immediately stop using and dispose of Comfi Baby Infant Walkers because they pose a risk of falls and entrapment to children. The products violate the federal safety regulations for infant walkers because they can fit through a standard doorway. They are not designed to stop at the edge of a step and have leg openings that allow the child to slip down until the child’s head can become entrapped. CPSC issued a Notice of Violation to the seller, All Merchandise, of Charlotte, N.C., but the firm is no longer in business to offer a remedy to consumers.
Key Considerations Regarding The Recently Passed EU Artificial Intelligence Act
March 14, 2024, Kramer Levin
The European Parliament has approved the regulation harmonizing rules on artificial intelligence (the AI Act). Stakeholders must comply with the AI Act due to its global reach, when it takes effect this year. The AI Act will be applicable to all providers, manufacturers, importers, distributors and deployers of systems integrating AI that are established in the EU, or, if registered outside the EU, that market their AI system or model in the EU. The AI Act will come into force within 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.
Long Island Company Admits It Illegally Sold Chinese-Made Equipment To U.S. Military
Aprile 19, 2024, New York Daily News
A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to illegally selling Chinese-manufactured security and surveillance equipment to the U.S. military and passing off the wares as American-made. According to the feds, this creates potential security risks. Aventura Inc.’s customers included the Navy, the Air Force and the Department of Energy, but the “Made in USA” labels on their products were a lie. The products, which included items like networked security turnstiles and night-vision cameras, had known cybersecurity vulnerabilities, prosecutors said. Feds charged Aventura and the members of its senior management with fraud and other offenses in 2019. All of the individual suspects have already pleaded guilty.
Boeing Urges Employees To ‘Speak Up’ About Product Safety. But What Impact Does A Whistleblower Really Have?
March 20, 2024, KUOW
Whistleblower and former Boeing Quality Manager John Barnett was found dead last week from what the local coroner said appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. At the time of his death, Barnett, who had raised concerns about safety issues at Boeing’s North Charleston plant for years, was in South Carolina for a deposition in a retaliation lawsuit he filed against Boeing. Boeing created the “Speak Up” program in 2019 — after Barnett had left the company — to empower employees to flag concerns about product quality and safety through a confidential reporting channel. But according to a Federal Aviation Administration report published last month, the “Speak Up” program has yet to take hold among employees, who prefer to report issues to their managers directly.
House Republicans Use Final Spending Bill To End Attempts To Restrict Gas Stoves
March 22, 2024, Washington Examiner
House Republicans included a one-line provision in the final appropriations that would prevent the Biden administration from banning gas stoves. In the minibus, a policy rider states that none of the appropriated funds “may be used to promulgate, implement, administer, or enforce any regulation issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban gas stoves as a class of products.” The debate around a proposed ban on gas stoves dates back to 2022 after the Consumer Product Safety Commission floated a future ban and changes in standards for natural gas stoves after several studies linked the product to an increased risk of childhood asthma.
Adams Administration Launches New E-Bike Public Education Campaign In NYC
March 20, 2024, New York DOT
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today launched “Get Smart Before You Start,” a new multi-platform marketing campaign to educate New Yorkers on how to safely operate e-bikes. The campaign will work in tandem with innovative street redesigns and targeted enforcement to reduce injuries and fatalities. The campaign includes advertising on TV, radio, print and digital news outlets, as well as on social media, in subway ads, and on LinkNYC kiosks.
