Topic: New Regulatory Authority Has CPSC Working at 'Furious Pace,' Chairman Says

[Pandora]

Cribs, football helmets, playground equipment -- you  name it, the Consumer Product Safety Commission probably has a safety standard for that product to meet.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says it has been working "at a furious pace" to protect American consumers over the past four years.

"Since 2008, we have approved 41 final rules (regulations) and nearly 100 notices to industry," CPSC Chair Inez Moore Tenenbaum told a recent gathering in Washington. “The state of product safety is strong.”

I want these people gone!

Four years ago, Congress passed a law giving the safety commission more regulatory authority over products for children.

In an Aug. 9 speech at Washington’s National Press Club, Tenenbaum listed some of the safety rules the CPSC has created since then:

“Cribs—the U.S. now has the strongest cribs standard in the world,” she said. Tenenbaum also mentioned improved “play yards,” stronger lead limits, mandatory toy standards, and tracking labels for children’s products, among other rules.

But wait!  There's more!

Still to come this year are safety standards for bassinets, cradles, strollers and infant carriers.

“These are standards that once in place will save even more lives,” she said.

While the CPSC is known for issuing product recalls, it also occasionally bans products deemed too dangerous for children.

“Years ago they had these things called lawn darts and you’d throw them and they were hitting children, wounding them, hitting them in the eye, putting eyes out,” Tenenaum told CNSNews.com.  “So, we banned lawn darts, which is a toy.” The ban took effect at the end of 1988.

More recently, the CPSC has filed suit against the maker of Buckyballs, in an attempt to stop sales of the magnetic desk contraptions.  The action follows reports that some children have swallowed the small magnets.

Tenenbaum said bans are rare for the CPSC because manufacturers usually comply with the commission’s recommended safety changes. “Our relationship with industry is very, very close,” Tenenbaum said.  “We let them have the voluntary standard unless Congress steps in.”

CNSNews.com asked Tenenbaum, “Do you ever worry that some of these different rules will take away sort of the risk involved with being a child or the fun?  Are you ever concerned about that?”

“No, because we just want to make play safe,” Tenenbaum said.

The CPSC is now partnering with the National Football League to address head injuries, including concussions, among young athletes.

At the prodding of the CPSC, many helmets for young athletes now have dates printed on them, saying when they were made and when they “expire.”

“Based on everything we have learned, I believe it very unlikely that an older, poorly maintained football helmet manages the different types of forces at play on a football field as well as newer, properly maintained models do,” Tenenbaum said.

“And until we know more on the scientific front, I see no downside to an approach that leads to less energy and possible trauma to the brain. This simple, yet informative label is a very clear reminder for parents, coaches and players, that helmets not only require care and maintenance, but also that they don’t last forever.”

Earlier this month, Tenenbaum and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell joined 125 members of the Akron Parent Pee Wee Football League in Ohio to launch a program that provides new helmets to economically disadvantaged youth.

“But here’s the key,” Tenenbaum said. “It was one of my absolute requirements.  No program would receive its new helmets without going through a robust education effort aimed at accelerating a vital safety culture change.”

Tenenbaum said while properly maintained football helmets are important, “the real game-changer is leaning how to play the game and use those helmets properly. Smarter play is safer play,” she said.

The NFL now bans helmet-to-helmet contact, following growing concern about the long-term effects of concussion.

In her speech,, Tenenbaum also promoted the SaferProducts.gov website, which she described as a valuable database for consumers, industry, the media, and CPSC.

“Consumers can use SaferProducts.gov to search for incident reports involving a product they own or are thinking of buying. They can also use the site to file a report of harm or potential harm with the government.

“We screen all reports and share them with the named manufacturer, so they have a chance to file a claim of material inaccuracy, claim of confidential business information, or have a response posted alongside of the consumer’s report.”

Tenebaum said since the database went online in 2011, it has received close to 10,000 incident reports.

We live in a friggin nanny-state and I want it to STOP awready!  Why doesn't Inez just pass a regulation that all kids must be bubblewrapped and face-masked?
    

[Libertas]

The consumer safety instructions for the CPSC would read "Please douse with generous amounts of gasoline and light from a safe distance, these idiots are hazardous to human intelligence and a waste of taxpayer funds"!

[Predator Don]

Pan....I've been contacted in regards to the new ADA standards......

[Pandora]

Pan....I've been contacted in regards to the new ADA standards......

Oh great.  That must have made your day.  So, what's the skinny?

[Predator Don]

Pan....I've been contacted in regards to the new ADA standards......

Oh great.  That must have made your day.  So, what's the skinny?

The law is vague. It requires me to have "machines" available for the handicapped, which means I need to have enough room by some of my equipment for a wheelchair to access the seat easily. Most of my equipment will meet the "new" requirement....It only gets dicey if I get someone who really wants to be an ass, since the new reg is subject to interpretation.
Of course, contact has been made but this is gov't, I may never hear from them again. What I believe is a more likely senario will be larger gyms, chains, turning in the smaller independants for scrutiny, cause me issues.

[Libertas]

Beware the ass then, because there is alwasy one willing to be the token victim and get their 15 minutes of shame.

[Pandora]

Beware the ass then, because there is alwasy one willing to be the token victim and get their 15 minutes of shame.

.... and a nice payout.  Leeches.

I finally figured out why restaurant ladies rooms have full length mirrors in 'em ... so the "differently abled" can't sic the ADA enforcers on them for having the smaller mirrors hung an inch too high.

[Libertas]

Beware the ass then, because there is alwasy one willing to be the token victim and get their 15 minutes of shame.

.... and a nice payout.  Leeches.

I finally figured out why restaurant ladies rooms have full length mirrors in 'em ... so the "differently abled" can't sic the ADA enforcers on them for having the smaller mirrors hung an inch too high.

Yeah, and check those insurance policies, they may be a no more than a one and done kind of deal in any given situation.  Lawyers and leeches, parasites all!
 

[LadyVirginia]

We live in a friggin nanny-state and I want it to STOP awready!  Why doesn't Inez just pass a regulation that all kids must be bubblewrapped and face-masked?
    

And the irony is I see parents doing far stupider things than letting their kids play lawn darts--like letting a toddler sit alone in a shopping cart at the back of a car while they put another child or bags in the passenger side of the vehicle. Or let a 3 year old walk a store parking lot ahead of them without anyone holding on to them.

I was at the library the other day and some stupid mother was letting her barely walking child go through the front double doors unassisted.  Some other woman bumped the kid and the mother yelled at her. I couldn't understand why the mother wanted to depend on others to look out for her kid instead of just taking her by the hand or carrying her through the doors.

[Alphabet Soup]

My mom had five kids.

We were all a challenge to her but my sister (the youngest) was the worst. She was constantly running away whenever she could and then playing hind~n~seek when we would try to track her down. Exasperated, my mom took to putting her on a tether in order to restrain her from running off.

I can still recall when some nosy-nelly objected (in a suitably snotty tone) "Ewww, you put your daughter on a leash!" (spitting out the word leash). My mom, not noted for cussing, told the lady to "Mind your own damned business"!

I love my mom