OnSafety is the Official Blog Site of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Here you'll find the latest safety information as well as important messages that will keep you and your family safe. We hope you'll visit often!
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By CPSC Blogger on August 27, 2012
Updated: Sept. 4, 2012
 In late August, CPSC voted to begin rulemaking to address the serious risks posed by hazardous, high-powered magnet sets. You will have 75 days to comment to the agency about the rulemaking. Your comments are due to CPSC by Nov. 19.
CPSC staff briefed the commission about the magnet hazards at an open meeting on Thursday, Aug. 9.
Between 2009 and 2011, our staff estimates that there were 1,700 cases treated in hospital emergency rooms nationwide related to the ingestion of small, high powered magnets. More than 70 percent of these cases involved children between the ages of 4 and 12.
The agency’s staff is proposing a rule that addresses the size and strength of the magnets. Under the proposed rule, magnets that fit in a small parts tester would be required to have a flux index of 50 or less. Many of the high-powered magnets in the sets sold today, by comparison, are many times stronger.
Magnet sets that do not meet the new requirements could not be sold as a manipulative or a desk toy.
CPSC has published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register. (FR). Now that the proposed rulemaking has published, your opportunity to comment begins. Here’s where you can share your comments about this proposed rule. Your comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET on Nov. 19.
Rulemaking comments are submitted through the government website Regulations.gov. We will publicize the Federal Register notice and the link to comment on our website, our @OnSafety Twitter account, and in this blog.
We continue to encourage everyone to read the information on our magnet information page. Watch the video. Keep these magnets away from all children and out of homes with children. For us, it’s about keeping kids safe.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/08/magnet-rulemaking-how-you-can-be-involved/
By CPSC Blogger on April 26, 2012
Calling all moms, dads and kids of all ages in the Washington, D.C., region. Join us at our ScienSafety! booth at this year’s USA Science and Engineering Festival.
The free festival is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, D.C.
At our booth (booth #727!), kids will work with CPSC engineers on a hands-on demonstration on toy testing. They’ll learn first-hand how our scientists and engineers determine which ages a toy is appropriate for.
So, bring your kids to meet and play with us. They, and you, will learn how to play it safe.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/04/live-hands-on-event-product-safety-is-no-accident/
By CPSC Blogger on December 27, 2011
CPSC – you’re the recall agency, right? That’s how many think of us.
Here at CPSC, we’re all about keeping families safe – around the holidays and beyond. And that starts at our National Product Testing and Evaluation Center.
For a recall to happen, a product needs to be found to be unsafe by CPSC staff or its manufacturer. But exactly what does that mean? Here’s an inside view. Meet the scientists. See some of the tests. Think about these tests when you buy and use holiday gifts.
To watch this video in Adobe Flash format, you may need to download the Adobe Flash player. You can also watch the video in Windows Media format. (Watch in Windows Media format.)
And be sure to check the products in your home against those that we’ve recalled.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/12/tour-our-product-testing-laboratory/
By CPSC Blogger on June 24, 2011
On Monday, June 13, 2011, CPSC opened a new state-of-the-art National Product Testing and Evaluation Center. The new lab has 2 ½ times more testing space than CPSC’s old facility, which was a former military missile site that CPSC first occupied in 1975. Here are some photos from the grand opening.
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CPSC Laboratory Grand Opening
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CPSC scientists and staff await the grand opening ceremony.
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CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum welcomes Sen. Durbin aide Diana Hamilton, Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Rockville, Md., Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio to CPSC’s new testing facility.
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Rep. Chris Van Hollen said, “Americans have a right to go to the store and expect products to be safe. … That’s what [CPSC staff] do.”
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Chairman Tenenbaum and Rep. Van Hollen cut the ribbon. CPSC commissioners Nancy Nord and Thomas Moore look on.
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CPSC Director of Laboratory Sciences Andy Stadnik shows Rep. Van Hollen the new testing facility.
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CPSC chemist Joanne Patry talks about testing products for lead.
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This Direct Analysis in Real Time-Mass Spectrometer (DART-MS) tests for chemicals in products in seconds. Staff scientists simply rub the product with a glass rod and place the rod in front of a gas flow as shown. This new machine helps CPSC scientists get results more quickly and efficiently.
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Helmets are lifted on a rail system and dropped for an impact test to make sure that the helmets you wear meet safety standards.
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Mechanical engineer Ian Hall shows a helmet to Chairman Tenenbaum, while Rep. Van Hollen, Sen. Dick Durbin’s aide Diana Hamilton, CPSC commissioners Anne Northup and Nord, and CPSC International Programs Director Richard O’Brien look on.
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To test parking brakes on ATVs and ROVs, CPSC scientists have a new floor panel that lifts and tilts. Here, mechanical engineer Brian Baker measures the angle of the floor.
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Director of Laboratory Sciences Andy Stadnik shows a tool developed by CPSC staff to screen cigarette lighters for compliance at ports and retail locations saving time and shipping costs each year.
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This baby walker was seized at import, failed CPSC’s test and never made it to store shelves. A weighted doll is placed in the walker and a test is run to see if the walker will stop safely or, instead, potentially fall down stairs or ledges.
 This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/06/inside-the-lab-the-grand-opening/
By CPSC Blogger on March 2, 2011
Do you know a leader in consumer product safety?
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum is looking for nominations for her Chairman’s Commendation Circle Award. This award will recognize people, businesses, organizations, state and local governments, and other groups that have demonstrated a commitment to consumer product safety.
We’re sure you know one of these leaders. They come to the table with solutions and creative approaches to safety and they get things done. They have contributed in an important way to the benefit of consumers by reducing deaths, preventing injuries and improving consumer product safety.
Now’s your chance to nominate a leader in this area. Tell us about these people and their groups. How has your nominee contributed to improving consumer product safety? What are their notable accomplishments? And how have consumers benefitted from your nominee’s work?
So, go ahead. Start the process. Go to www.cpsc.gov/award to read the rules and get a nomination form. The nomination deadline is March 31, 2011.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/03/get-your-nominations-ready/
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In late August, CPSC voted to begin rulemaking to address the serious risks posed by hazardous, high-powered magnet sets. You will have 75 days to comment to the agency about the rulemaking. Your comments are due to CPSC by Nov. 19.
