U.S.CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20207
CPSC Document #8005
U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
REGULATORY REFORM INITIATIVE
SUMMARY REPORT
JUNE 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. AGENCY OVERVIEW
II. ELIMINATING AND IMPROVING REGULATIONS
(1) Eliminating obsolete regulatory provisions
(2) Reducing the volume of regulations
(3) Consolidating related regulations to make them
more user-friendly
III. REWARDING RESULTS
(1) Agency Level Performance Measures
(a) Results-oriented goals
(b) Service quality goals
(c) Customer satisfaction goals
(2) Customer Service Standards
(3) Performance Measures for Personnel
(4) Measuring Field Performance
(5) Shifting Resources From Enforcement Efforts to
Partnership Activities Aimed at Compliance
IV. CREATING GRASSROOTS PARTNERSHIPS
(1) Partnership success stories
(a) Window blind and drapery cords
(b) Drawstrings in children's clothing
(c) Movable soccer goals
(d) Baseball injuries
(e) Safety Sells Conference
(f) Bicycle helmets
(2) Programs and plans for the future
(a) Home electrical safety
(b) International safety standards
(c) State and local partnerships
(3) Rewarding industry partners for success
(4) Publicizing Partnerships
V. NEGOTIATE, DON'T DICTATE
(1) How CPSC Works With Industry to Develop
Voluntary Safety Standards
(2) Other Agency Actions to Further the President's
Directive
VI. AUTHORITY TO WAIVE PENALTIES AND CUTTING
FREQUENCY OF REPORTS
(1) Penalties
(2) Reports
Appendix A Safety Sells Conference Report
Appendix B CPSC News Releases
=================================================================
U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
REGULATORY REFORM INITIATIVE
SUMMARY REPORT
I. AGENCY OVERVIEW
The fundamental mission of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) is to reduce the unreasonable risk of injury
and death from consumer products.
The three-member independent agency enforces five federal
statutes: the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Flammable Fabrics
Act, the Poison Prevention Packaging Act, the Federal Hazardous
Substances Act and the Refrigerator Safety Act. All told, CPSC
has jurisdiction over 15,000 consumer products which are found in
and around the home.
Most people do not realize the terrible toll that dangerous
and defective consumer products take on our nation annually.
More children in this country die from accidental injuries than
from disease. Accidental injuries are the leading cause of death
for all Americans under the age of 35 and are the fifth leading
cause of death in the nation. Individuals 65 years of age and
older are four times as likely to die of product-related injuries
than their representation in the population. Each year there are
21,400 deaths and 29 million injuries related to consumer
products under Commission jurisdiction.
The societal costs associated with deaths, injuries and
property damage from consumer products cost the nation about $200
billion annually. Consumer product injuries account for one out
of every six hospital days in this country. Because every
dangerous product removed from the marketplace prevents an
increase in the national health care bill, if each of CPSC's
protective actions is multiplied by millions of dangerous
products, it is clear that the nation is saved billions of
dollars in health care costs annually by the Commission's work.
Past agency actions in just four areas (electrocutions,
children's poisonings, power mowers and fire safety) save the
nation about $2.5 billion each year in societal costs and several
hundred million dollars in health care costs.
In addition to its primary mission of preventing unnecessary
injuries and death from consumer products, CPSC has three
additional mission-related goals: (1) to assist consumers in
evaluating the comparative safety of consumer products; (2) to
develop uniform safety standards for consumer products and to
minimize conflicting State and local regulations; and (3) to
promote research and investigation into causes and prevention of
product-related deaths, illnesses and injuries.
In accomplishing its mission, the agency works cooperatively
with many different groups, including those representing business
and industry. The CPSC supports, as part of this cooperative
effort, the Administration's regulatory reform initiative and
its objective of achieving the benefits of effective regulation
in the least burdensome manner. This report describes some of
the steps CPSC is taking to minimize bureaucracy and to work with
business to promote greater safety for the American public.
II. ELIMINATING AND IMPROVING REGULATIONS
CPSC conducted a page by page, section by section review of
its regulations. The purpose of this extensive effort was to
revoke or revise outdated regulations or those otherwise in need
of reform. More specifically, CPSC is: (1) eliminating obsolete
regulations; (2) reducing the volume of regulations; (3)
consolidating related regulations to make them more user-
friendly; and (4) assuring that any changes will not reduce
safety to the American public.
(1) Eliminating obsolete regulatory provisions.
The staff believes that selected provisions in 12 CPSC
regulations are no longer needed to protect consumers from the
dangers of certain hazardous products. The regulation and the
obsolete provisions are as follows:
-- stuffed toys - 16 CFR 1145.9
-- squeeze toys - 16 CFR 1145.10
-- mesh-sided playpens - 16 CFR 1145.11
-- mesh-sided cribs - 16 CFR 1145.12
-- expandable enclosures - 16 CFR 1145.13
-- cribs with defective hardware - 16 CFR 1145.14
-- bassinets with collapsible legs - 16 CFR 1145.15
-- bicycle labeling for outdated bicycles - 16 CFR
1512.19(d) and .50
-- sleepwear labeling and segregation of outdated garments
(4 provisions):
- 16 CFR 1615.5(b) and .31(b)(3); 16 CFR
1615.31(c)(d);
- 16 CFR 1616.6(b) and .31(b)(8); and 16 CFR
1616.31(c)
The staff will recommend that the Commission eliminate the
unnecessary provisions.
(2) Reducing the volume of regulations.
CPSC regulations governing children's sleepwear are divided
by clothing size (0-6x and 7-14), though the regulatory
provisions are nearly identical. The staff will recommend that
the Commission merge the two regulations into one, thereby
eliminating approximately 30 of the 54 CFR pages of duplicative
sleepwear provisions. [16 CFR 1615, 1616]
(3) Consolidating related regulations to make them more user-
friendly.
The staff will recommend that the Commission take the
following actions on the regulations listed below to make them
less complex and easier to use and comply with:
-- Consolidate CPSC's investigative regulations governing
investigations conducted under the CPSA (16 CFR 1118) and
the FFA (16 CFR 1605);
-- consolidate CPSC's regulations on children's sleepwear;
-- consolidate CPSC's regulations governing imported goods
and the export of noncomplying goods, which were adopted as three
separate sets of regulations under three different statutes [16
CFR 1010, 1019, 1500.265-272];
-- eliminate CPSC's narrow regulation banning lawn darts
[16 CFR 1500.18(a)(4)] because a more comprehensive lawn dart ban
is included at 16 CFR 1306.
III. REWARDING RESULTS
(1) Agency Level Performance Measures
CPSC makes vital contributions to decreasing the deaths and
injuries associated with consumer products. The Commission's
actions result in immediate reductions in the nation's health
care costs. Every dangerous product removed from the marketplace
prevents an increase in the national health care bill. Multiply
each of CPSC's actions by millions of removed products and the
nation is saved billions in health care costs.
CPSC's long-term goals are easily categorized by the three
goals defined in the Government Performance and Results Act
(GPRA). In brief, results-oriented goals focus on reducing
injuries and deaths from various types of consumer products.
Service quality goals focus on improving the services CPSC
provides to the agency's major constituents -- consumers and
industry. Customer satisfaction-oriented goals focus on
improving the usefulness, timeliness and accuracy of the services
the Commission provides to its external customers.
(a) Results-oriented goals. The overall goal is to reduce
the annual 21,400 deaths, 29 million injuries and $200 billion in
societal costs associated with consumer products. The general
strategy is to use all the hazard reduction tools available to
the agency and address those hazards that represent the greatest
opportunity for injury reduction. For example:
-- The recently issued rule on child-resistant cigarette
lighters is projected to prevent up to 100 deaths each year,
several hundred injuries and millions of dollars in property
damage. Total savings to society will be over one-half billion
dollars per year.
-- CPSC scrutiny of dangerous fireworks prevented 17,000 to
20,000 injuries over the past seven years and continued
scrutiny is projected to prevent approximately 3,000 injuries
each year.
To illustrate the development of results-oriented goals for
the Commission, CPSC's FY 1996 budget submission contains
baseline data at the agency and program level. Examples of
specific results-oriented goals that will be considered by CPSC
are as follows:
-- Reduce the approximately 4,000 deaths, 22,000 injuries
and $4.8 billion in property damage from fires;
-- reduce the 1,400 deaths and 310,070 injuries from
electrical, mechanical, and children's products;
-- reduce the 585 deaths and 340,000 injuries from sports
and recreational products;
-- reduce the injuries and deaths from chemical hazards;
-- increase the agency's capability to reduce injuries and
deaths by improving the identification and analysis of product
hazards.
(b) Service quality goals. These goals focus on compliance
and information activities. CPSC's compliance efforts strive to
help manufacturers deliver safe consumer products to the
marketplace. CPSC information systems provide consumers with
critical product safety information so they can make informed
purchasing decisions. For example:
-- The recently passed Child Safety Protection Act (CSPA)
requires choking hazard warnings on toys and games containing
small parts, small balls, marbles, and balloons. the
requirements, which have broad, extensive impact on the toy and
children's products industry, became effective on January 1,
1995. In preparation for ensuring compliance with these new
requirements, CPSC published a notice in the Federal Register in
November 1994 announcing the upcoming rules. Staff explained the
requirements of the CSPA at industry meetings in Florida,
Washington, D.C., New York, Texas, and California, and the staff
did a mass mailing of information on the new labeling
requirements to some 1,500 toy and children's products
manufacturers and importers. As a result of the efforts to
involve and inform the regulated industry, the staff has thus far
found a very high level of compliance with these requirements
throughout all levels of the industry.
-- To speed delivery of life-saving information to the
American people, CPSC transformed its outmoded telephone
center into a cutting-edge interactive information system
that incorporates a 24-hour Hotline, Internet, bilingual
operators and fax-on-demand. The White House has cited
CPSC's new Hotline as an outstanding example of government
"reinvention." Other Federal agencies have used it as a
model for their own improved consumer information systems.
CPSC is working on additional service quality goals to:
-- Develop a closer working relationship with industry to
assist companies in the development of comprehensive and
effective quality assurance programs to ensure the safety of the
products they manufacture, import, distribute and sell;
-- improve recall effectiveness and minimize the recall
burden to industry by working with companies to develop
appropriately targeted corrective action measures;
-- enhance the timeliness of identifying potentially
defective consumer products;
-- provide timely, useful and accurate information to
industry regarding the requirements of CPSC rules, regulations
and reporting obligations; and
-- communicate more effectively with high-risk groups about
potential hazards and the safe use of consumer products.
(c) Customer satisfaction goals. CPSC's consumer
information program informs consumers about product hazards and
makes recommendations on ways to reduce these hazards.
Information may be provided to individual consumers who request
information on specific products or product areas or to groups of
consumers through targeted outreach programs. CPSC's use of
video news releases is an effective, inexpensive way of quickly
reaching tens of millions of consumers with critical product
safety information. For example:
-- The video news release on the recall of flammable skirts
reached over 100 million viewers and generated over 22,600
calls to the CPSC Hotline;
-- the flammable fleece recall video news release reached
more than 44 million viewers and generated nearly 15,000
calls to the Hotline;
-- the video news release on the suffocation hazard posed
by bean bag chairs reached well over 43 million viewers and
generated over 17,500 calls to the Hotline.
As illustrated above, CPSC's goals support the objectives
defined in the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). In
the future, CPSC's results-oriented goals will continue to focus
on reducing injuries and deaths. Its service quality goals will
focus on improving services provided to the agency's major
constituents -- consumers and industry. And its customer
satisfaction goals will focus on improved usefulness, timeliness
and accuracy of services provided to external customers.
(2) Customer Service Standards
In FY 1994, in response to Executive Order 12862 on Setting
Customer Service Standards, Chairman Ann Brown issued a
Proclamation to all CPSC employees declaring all of CPSC a
reinvention laboratory and setting improved customer service as
its first goal.. Since its toll-free Hotline is CPSC's primary
point of contact with the public, the agency surveyed a sample of
Hotline users to determine the kind and quality of services
desired by American consumers. Survey results were analyzed and
CPSC issued customer service standards for the Hotline. In an
August 28, 1994 letter to Vice President Al Gore, the Chairman
transmitted the agency's first customer service plan, in which
she underscored the agency's commitment to continued improved
customer service.
CPSC takes pride in the standards set for the Hotline in its
customer service plan. When the Hotline is called, callers can
expect the following:
-- to be given easy-to-follow instructions on how to use
the Hotline;
-- to hear the most up-to-date and easy-to-understand
recorded information on product safety recalls and consumer
products, seven days a week, 24 hours a day;
-- to be given courteous service;
-- to have the caller's complaint of an unsafe product or
product-related injury taken accurately and a copy of the report
sent to them so that they can confirm the information recorded by
our Hotline staff; and,
-- to have their telephone call left at night, weekends or
holidays returned the next business day, or, if they do not want
a return call, to receive a letter confirming receipt of their
product-complaint message.
CPSC's next customer service standards will be issued this
Fiscal Year for its state and local partners. The standards will
be introduced in a series of upcoming meetings this fall.
(3) Performance Measures for Personnel
The CPSC is currently revising its performance management
plan for all employees. The goals of this revision are to:
-- Enable supervisors to efficiently develop results-
oriented performance plans and appraisals in the least
burdensome manner;
-- ensure that safety investigators continue to focus on
results, not process and punishment such as the number of
violations found or the amount of fines levied; and
-- develop generic elements and standards for all employees
which will ensure fair and equitable evaluation of employees.
It is anticipated that the entire plan, including
development of generic elements and standards and training for
supervisors and employees, will be implemented by September 1,
1995.
In support of these initiatives, CPSC staff are rewarded for
activities that reduce deaths and injuries to the American
public. This is best exemplified by the awards given to CPSC
staff at the annual recognition day ceremony this past May:
-- An attorney in the Office of Compliance met with several
industry groups and spoke to scores of individual members of
industry and representatives of consumer groups in order to
craft common sense rules implementing the labeling provision
of the Child Safety Protection Act. This attorney's efforts to
inform industry have led to a very high level of compliance with
these new rules;
-- an engineer received an award for working effectively
and successfully with the water heater industry to encourage them
to develop an industry program to identify means of modifying
or redesigning gas-fired water heaters to prevent flammable
vapors from reaching the pilot light and causing fires;
-- a statistician received an award for developing and
leading a program to identify the role that consumer products may
play in contributing to the suffocation of infants diagnosed with
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The work resulted in
recommendations not to place babies to sleep face down on top of
soft bedding;
-- a management analyst received an award for organizing a
meeting on baseball safety which brought together interested
parties from industry, academia, the medical community and
government to develop and implement strategies for dealing with
controversial issues regarding baseball protective equipment for
young players;
-- the Director of State and Local programs vigorously and
effectively promoted CPSC's interests at the state and local
level and developed partnerships with 22 states that resulted in
promoting use of smoke detectors to vulnerable populations,
increased media coverage of product recalls and advanced the
cause of product safety; and,
-- the Division of Corrective Actions in the Office of
Compliance was recognized for its cooperative work with
manufacturers, distributors and retailers to negotiate recalls of
tens of millions of defective products. Using minimal staff
resources, compliance staff worked effectively with industry to
protect the public in a cooperative manner without resort to
litigation in a single case. The staff engaged in several
industry-wide cooperative efforts to remove hazards presented by
bunk beds, bean bag chairs, venetian blind cords, mobile soccer
goals, and strings in clothing, as well as working to recall
scores of individual defective products.
(4) Measuring Field Performance
In response to the request to examine and change, if
necessary, the methods used to measure the performance of CPSC's
front-line regulators to focus on results, not process and
punishment, CPSC reviewed the performance plans for members of
the field staff.
CPSC's field staff, located in three regional centers and 34
smaller offices, are responsible for the following: minimizing
conflicting state and local regulations; investigating the causes
and promoting prevention of product-related deaths, illnesses and
injuries; motivating manufacturers, distributors and retailers to
comply with safety regulations; inspecting and investigating
activities to determine if firms and products are in compliance
with laws; and obtaining evidence to support legal action when
violations are found.
CPSC's Office of Human Resources Management examined methods
used to measure performance and concluded that performance
measures are based on quality and timeliness of work products,
not on numbers of violations found or the amount of fines levied.
Performance elements for regional office supervisors and
investigators do contain measures of productivity which are
expressed in terms of completion of allocated portions of the
field operating plan. These measures of productivity also
represent percentages of projected work accomplishments.
5) Shifting Resources From Enforcement Efforts To Partnership
Activities Aimed At Compliance
As compliance problems are identified, the staff frequently
contacts a broad industry segment to advise them of the problem
and how to comply with the CPSC's regulations. In many areas,
the staff has been able to shift resources from enforcement
efforts to partnership activities aimed at compliance.
During the past year, for example, the staff made efforts to
correct some slippage in compliance in the flammable fabrics
area. A recall of lightweight Indian skirts involved hundreds of
retailers, importers, U.S. Customs offices and embassy officials.
The skirts were found to present a serious risk of burn
injuries because they did not meet the applicable flammability
regulation under the Flammable Fabrics Act. The commission
worked with U.S.Customs to stop additional entries of failing
skirts and to identify past entries of suspect skirts so that
staff could investigate further if needed; identified small
businesses, particularly importers affected by the failing
garments, to communicate the requirements of the Flammable
Fabrics Act; and held discussions with the Indian Embassy to
assure that it conveyed to its fabric industry the requirements
for exporting garments to the United States.
The meetings with the Indian Embassy staff resulted in the
Government of India establishing a testing certification program
for rayon chiffon skirts. The Indian Government now requires
that all exporters of sheer chiffon rayon skirts conduct
flammability testing by competent laboratories to comply with the
CPSC flammability regulation and to receive certification for
export to the United States. CPSC also notified about 50 other
countries that export similar items about the flammability
requirements, and CPSC staff worked with the U.S. Customs Service
to test incoming shipments of suspect garments for compliance
with the regulation.
Another example of shifting resources to partnership
activities aimed at compliance involves the CPSC product defect
investigation program. Product defect investigations lead to the
identification and removal of defective products from the
marketplace. CPSC is exploring ways to reduce industry's concern
about the potential negative impact of a report to the agency
about a potentially defective product. The staff has under
consideration a pilot plan whereby a "preliminary staff
determination of a substantial product hazard" may not be made if
certain criteria are met. To forgo the staff making a
preliminary determination, a firm reporting under section 15
would have to implement a corrective action plan in cooperation
with the CPSC within a specified time period. Such an approach
meets the firm's responsibilities of reporting that defect to
CPSC. It also allows the firm to readily implement its
corrective action plan. In addition, this approach reduces the
burden on staff, because the full technical evaluation may not be
required if the initial submission by the firm meets staff's
needs to truncate a full-scale product-defect investigation.
IV. CREATING GRASSROOTS PARTNERSHIPS
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has put great
emphasis on working in partnership with the industries it
regulates. Since she arrived in March 1994, Chairman Ann Brown
has made a special effort to reach out to business and industries
regulated by CPSC and has met with their representatives in
Washington, D.C., at association meetings and trade shows around
the country. The Commission also has developed partnerships with
a wide variety of other groups concerned with product safety,
including consumer, medical, safety and standards-setting
organizations.
Among the many groups the Chairman has met with are the
Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, the National
Association of Manufacturers, the National Retail Federation, and
the Toy Manufacturers of America (TMA). For example, she visited
the annual Toy Fair trade show sponsored by TMA in New York in
February 1995. She toured several exhibits, met with CEOs of
major toy manufacturing and retailing companies, and delivered a
speech to several hundred toy industry representatives. In
addition, other top agency officials participated in a compliance
seminar at Toy Fair, designed to assist manufacturers, retailers
and importers in understanding CPSC's regulations and applicable
safety laws. Finally, CPSC had a booth at the trade show staffed
with knowledgeable Commission employees to answer questions and
provide information about Commission requirements to the
thousands of trade show participants.
1) Partnership success stories
CPSC has initiated several partnerships over the past 15
months that have sparked creative approaches to promoting product
safety. The following examples illustrate some of these
innovative partnerships and their results.
a). Window blind and drapery cords. Over 140 children
between eight months and four years old have died since 1981 as a
result of blind and drapery cords. Most of them strangled after
becoming entangled in the cords. In the spring of 1994, CPSC
initiated a cooperative effort with the window covering industry
to respond to the hazards posed by window blind and drapery
cords.
On October 5, 1994, CPSC and the newly-created Window
Covering Safety Council, made up of manufacturers, importers and
retailers of drapery and blind cords, announced a three-part
program to address this hazard. Specifically, the program was
designed to: (1) eliminate the loop in window blind cords already
in consumers' homes by providing free retrofit kits; (2) modify
future production of window coverings by manufacturing only
blinds and draperies with safety tassels to prevent
strangulation; and (3) implement an educational campaign to reach
consumers through brochures, posters in pediatricians' and public
health offices, and warnings inserted in window covering
packaging. In concert with the Window Covering Safety Council,
CPSC developed its own public information outreach effort to
inform consumers about the hazard and how to remedy it. CPSC is
now working with industry to develop a voluntary standard to
address the risk of injury associated with looped blind cords.
b) Drawstrings in children's clothing. Since 1985, CPSC
has learned of 17 deaths and 39 near-strangulations of children
whose clothing with drawstrings caught on such things as
playground equipment, cribs, school bus doors and escalators.
Last spring, the agency called on manufacturers and retailers to
work with CPSC to change children's clothing to prevent such
entanglements and deaths. Industry accepted the challenge.
On July 7, 1994, CPSC announced a major cooperative effort
with 26 manufacturers and retailers. They agreed to modify or
remove drawstrings from the hoods and necks of their lines of
children's clothing. Some made the changes to their fall '94
line of children's clothing. Others agreed to modify or
eliminate the hood and neck drawstrings from their spring or fall
'95 lines. CPSC estimates these actions -- taken without
regulation or red tape -- will make more than 20 million garments
sold each year safer.
CPSC issued a video news release and print materials to
alert consumers about the dangers of drawstrings in children's
clothing and how to modify garments already in their possession.
CPSC also acted to distribute the information to school health
officials. CPSC is now working with the industry to develop a
voluntary standard addressing the risk of injury associated with
drawstrings
c) Movable soccer goals. Soccer has become increasingly
popular as a sport for youth groups in the last few years. With
that popularity, however, has come an increasing number of deaths
and injuries from movable soccer goals. Soccer goals can weigh
up to 600 pounds and are highly unstable if not firmly anchored
to the ground. A child or young adult who climbs on a goal,
attempts to do chin-ups, hangs from the crossbar or moves the
goal can be crushed and killed or severely injured if the goal
falls on him or her. There are some 120 injuries annually
involving movable soccer goals. CPSC is aware of 21 deaths to
date.
CPSC collaborated with the Sporting Goods Manufacturers
Association, the Soccer Industry Council of America and four
major soccer goal manufacturers to form the Coalition to Promote
Soccer Goal Safety. The coalition's primary focus has been a
safety warning and education program conducted through a
labelling campaign, press releases and safety alerts issued by
CPSC, posters, educational talks at soccer coach clinics and
conventions, and press conferences.
Building on the work of the coalition, on October 7, 1994,
CPSC held a conference to promote safer soccer goals.
Representatives of soccer organizations, educational groups,
product manufacturers, sports injury and safety groups and
government organizations attended. The goal of the conference
was to develop voluntary guidelines, alternatives and additions
to the coalition's safety campaign.
The conference quickly yielded positive results on two
fronts. First, in January 1995, CPSC issued its "Guidelines for
Movable Soccer Goal Safety." The guidelines are intended for use
by parks and recreation personnel, school officials, sports
equipment purchasers, parents, coaches, and any other members of
the general public concerned with soccer goal safety. Second,
later in January, a conference attendee who is assistant director
of the National Federation Soccer Rules Committee was
instrumental in securing approval to a change to the committee's
rules: Beginning with the 1995 high school soccer season,
portable goals must be securely anchored to the ground.
d) Baseball injuries. More than 165,000 baseball-related
injuries required emergency room treatment for children between 5
and 15 years old in 1993. CPSC, in cooperation with the Centers
for Disease Control (CDC), convened a Baseball Protective
Equipment Roundtable on October 18, 1994, to discuss what can be
done to reduce the number and severity of such injuries. The 52
roundtable participants represented manufacturers of sporting
goods and protective sports equipment, professional and amateur
sports groups, consensus standards-setting organizations, the
medical community, trade associations, academia, county
government, consumer groups, the National Institutes of Health,
and the legal community.
The Commission urged the development of voluntary consensus
standards for four types of sports equipment: face guards, soft
baseballs, chest protectors and safety bases. The Commission
also told the roundtable participants that it would develop
guidelines for consumers on the safest use of such equipment,
based in part on the outcome of the roundtable discussions.
As a direct result of the roundtable meeting, working groups
made up of members from industry and elsewhere have formed and
begun work on developing consensus standards in all four areas
under the aegis of ASTM (formerly known as the American Society
for Testing and Materials). CPSC is providing technical support.
The face guards working group has completed a first draft of
revisions to the existing standard. The soft baseballs working
group completed a draft test method which will be circulated
among ASTM members for a ballot vote. The chest protectors
working group is focusing on developing a test protocol for
protective padding, a preliminary step to developing a consensus
standard. All of these activities were discussed at a May
conference in Denver, Colorado.
e) Safety Sells Conference. Product safety is an emerging
business trend. In fact, safety sells. To highlight this and to
emphasize her commitment to cooperative CPSC-industry relations,
the Chairman hosted a one-day "Safety Sells Conference" on March
28, 1995, for top executives of consumer product companies and
others. The conference marked the very first time CPSC had
brought together senior industry executives to talk about
business profitability and safety as mutual objectives.
Eight chief executive officers and other top executives from
major consumer product companies were the featured speakers.
Each was asked to present a case study of a safe product or
approach to safety in his company and to discuss how the company
had benefited and profited from it. The speakers emphasized
their companies' commitment to safety and the competitive
advantages of their safety innovations. Their presentations
demonstrated an extraordinary range of new and creative
approaches to making and selling safer products.
The conference was attended by nearly 200 representatives of
industry, trade associations, standards-setting organizations,
the legal community, academia, non-profit and governmental
organizations. The conference was so well received by the
business audience that CPSC plans to make it a regular event.
The International Consumer Product Health and Safety
Organization (ICPHSO) provided funding to print copies of the
speakers' presentations for attendees. A copy of this
publication is included as Appendix A.
f) Bicycle helmets. Each year, about 400,000 children
under the age of 15 are treated in emergency rooms for bicycle-
related injuries. An additional 300 are killed. About one-third
of the injuries and two-thirds of the deaths are head-related.
Bike helmets can reduce the risk of head injury by up to 85
percent, yet only about 15 percent of all children nationally
wear helmets when they ride their bikes.
In late May 1995, CPSC announced the results of an eight-
state survey conducted by the American Automobile Association
(AAA) on bicycle helmet usage by children. AAA surveyed 282
children, ages 8 to 13, to get their ideas on how to encourage
more kids to wear bicycle helmets. Chairman Brown discussed the
survey results, contained in a CPSC report, at the Child
Transportation Safety Conference at the U.S. Department of
Transportation on June 1. The results showed that more than two-
thirds of those questioned think improving the way bicycle
helmets look or fit would increase helmet usage among children.
Many had ideas on how to improve marketing to make bike helmets
more appealing. For example, some suggested featuring sports or
mass media role models wearing helmets: "Show pros wearing
helmets and being cool." CPSC is distributing the report to bike
helmet manufacturers and will make it available to the general
public.
In addition, the Commission and AAA have jointly produced a
brochure on bicycle safety that targets children 8 to 13 years
old and places special emphasis on the importance of wearing
bicycle helmets when riding a bicycle. CPSC and AAA plan to
distribute the brochure widely. The brochure was featured in a
segment on NBC's Today Show and was covered by local media as
well.
2) Programs and plans for the future
In response to the President's March 4 directive to expand
grassroots partnerships, CPSC consulted with business, consumer
groups, and with its state partners. On the basis of their
suggestions, CPSC planned several future meetings including an
international safety standards conference to be held in July
1995, and a series of conferences for state officials scheduled
for September and October. In addition, CPSC will incorporate a
business/consumer dialogue in the planned 1996 Safety Sells
Conference, which will build on the successful 1995 meeting.
a) Home electrical safety. National fire statistics show
that more than 40,000 fires are caused each year by problems with
home electrical distribution systems. For the past 10 years,
home electrical distribution systems have been the leading cause
of fire deaths involving electrical equipment, claiming an
average of nearly 400 lives each year. These deaths and fires
cost society more than $2 billion annually. A CPSC study
indicates aging electrical wiring systems caused many of the
fires.
CPSC has formed a public-private partnership to address
this problem. It developed a pilot "electrical safety" project,
and, based on the results, will recommend ways to rehabilitate
electrical wiring systems in older homes. Its partners include
the U.S. Fire Administration, the Federal National Mortgage
Association (Fannie Mae), the National Fire Protection
Association, and other private industry sources, which will
provide funding, and building code organizations, electrical
inspectors, and fire safety experts, who will lend their
expertise.
CPSC will select test houses based on geographic location to
reflect varying construction methods used around the country. In
concert with its partners, CPSC will conduct demonstration
inspections of those homes to identify gross electrical wiring
hazards and demonstrate cost-effective solutions to improve home
wiring systems.
Working with its partners, CPSC also will promote an
electrical inspection code developed for older homes by the
National Fire Protection Association and press for wide
acceptance of periodic home inspections to identify and correct
gross electrical wiring hazards.
Finally, CPSC will disseminate and promote the findings from
the pilot project and produce and distribute a video
demonstrating electrical rehabilitation and repair methods to
consumers, local government officials and the electrical
community in general.
b) International safety standards. The international
harmonization of product standards is becoming very important to
our international trade relationships and the need to create
effective markets abroad for U.S. products. Several Federal
agencies with trade responsibilities are actively involved in
this process. CPSC, for example, has finalized a formal
agreement with the Canadian Product Safety Bureau whereby each
will make its standards-related measures and procedures for
product approval compatible with the other's, taking into account
international standardization activities.
At the same time, a number of non-governmental organizations
have been successful in developing bilateral and multilateral
voluntary product standards. "Mutual Recognition Agreements" on
product testing and certification, involving numerous countries,
are currently being negotiated.
Because greater coordination is needed, the CPSC has
scheduled a conference involving government agencies, voluntary
standards organizations, trade associations, academic
institutions and industry representatives to ascertain ways to
strengthen efforts to harmonize international product standards.
The conference will take place on July 18.
At the conference, experienced leaders and professionals
from government, industry, non-governmental organizations and the
academic community will discuss how to enhance international
trade and strengthen product safety through more effective
international harmonization of product standards. The CEO of
Toys "R" Us, for whom international harmonization of product
standards is of great concern, will be the keynote speaker.
Panelists will discuss how international agreements are critical
to global product standards; share "success stories" about making
specific product standards compatible; describe techniques on how
to eliminate product-related trade barriers; and explore how
increased coordination between government and industry can lead
to more effective product standard harmonization. Among the
agencies that will take part in the conference are the
Departments of State and Commerce, Federal Aviation
Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and the U.S. Trade
Representative.
c) State and local partnerships. The Commission plans to
strengthen both its own and the states' ability to reduce
consumer product-related deaths and injuries through the
development of new and innovative partnerships. In the fall of
1995, CPSC will host a series of three conferences, to which it
will invite representatives of all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. Each will be
invited to send a team of key officials, including the current
state designee for product safety and two or three other
individuals who have responsibilities and interests in this area.
CPSC's field staff will work closely with the states to
identify and prepare team members. In a day and a half of
planned conference activities, attendees will hear about the
latest in CPSC activities, including the following: emerging
safety hazards; the latest recall and compliance activities;
special efforts to reach "at-risk" populations; and innovations
in CPSC's communications system, including its Hotline, Internet
connections and fax-on-demand. They will hear what CPSC is doing
to reduce injuries related to children's toys and products, fire
and carbon monoxide hazards, and sports activities, such as
bicycling, in-line skating and baseball.
The conferees will brainstorm with CPSC staff and colleagues
from other states on the best and most useful ways to promote and
communicate product safety in their own states. Using what they
have learned at the conference, each state will develop an action
plan for working more effectively with CPSC and its own citizens
to reduce deaths and injuries from consumer products.
3) Rewarding industry partners for successes
Very shortly after she took office, Chairman Brown initiated
the Chairman's commendation program to recognize substantial
contributions to product safety by individuals, companies or
groups for one-time, ongoing or multiple actions. The Chairman
holds press conferences with the companies to publicize the
awards and underscore the importance of their safety
contributions. To date, she has given commendations to four
companies:
The Procter & Gamble Company (March 1994): "for voluntarily
marketing a major product in senior-friendly child-resistant
packaging."
Playskool, a division of Hasbro, Inc. (August 1994): "for
developing an innovative passive restraint to help prevent
children from sliding under the trays of highchairs and
strangling."
Sunbeam Plastics (September 1994): "for its long-term
commitment to developing innovative and effective senior-friendly
child-resistant packaging for a broad range of consumer
products."
Toys "R" Us (February 1995): "for its corporate commitment
to child safety, as exemplified by its product safety programs."
Factors that are considered in choosing award recipients may
include, among others, the following:
-- Actions that contribute to reducing hazards to children
and other vulnerable populations;
-- voluntary actions that are not mandated by government
regulations, that anticipate government regulations, or that go
beyond what the government requires;
-- developments that affect the safety of large numbers of
individuals;
-- innovations or improvements to existing products; and
-- safety devices, packaging, warnings or products that
enhance consumer safety.
4) Publicizing Partnerships
A vital aspect of the Commission's work is informing the
public about its safety efforts. The Commission issues press
releases on all major actions. The Office of Information and
Public Affairs works with television, radio, newspapers and
magazines to get maximum public exposure for the Commission's
work.
Press releases describing several of the partnership
activities described in this report are attached as Appendix B.
V. NEGOTIATE, DON'T DICTATE
1) How CPSC Works With Industry To Develop Voluntary Safety
Standards
CPSC uses an alternative approach to negotiated rulemaking
which accomplishes the goal of negotiating rather than dictating
rules. By statute CPSC can only issue a mandatory standard when
there is no voluntary standard in place that adequately addresses
the risk of injury, or when industry fails to comply with such
voluntary standards. The Commission has had great success in
working cooperatively with industry to develop voluntary
standards. Indeed, the Commission has found that with the
products it regulates, negotiating such standards can be far more
efficient than rulemaking or even negotiated rulemaking.
CPSC always attempts to work cooperatively with industry to
address safety hazards. It is far more effective for CPSC and
industry to work together than for the agency to dictate
mandatory standards. Industry knows its own products best and
obviously has considerable technical expertise. Accordingly, the
Commission uses mandatory standards only as a last resort when
negotiated voluntary standards and the marketplace prove
ineffective.
CPSC relies extensively on the voluntary consensus process
for the development of safety standards for consumer products in
the United States. As much, if not more than any other federal
regulatory agency, the CPSC has used the voluntary process to
address safety problems since its beginning in 1973. Since this
time, CPSC has worked with industry representatives to develop
more than 300 voluntary product standards while promulgating less
than 50 mandatory rules during this same period. This 6 to 1
ratio of voluntary to mandatory standards is impressive and
illustrates that CPSC has long relied on this process to carry
out its mission. The following are examples of the positive
results of voluntary standards activities:
-- Chain saw injuries were reduced 48%, from 69,000
injuries to 36,000 injuries.
-- Fire deaths were reduced 30%, from 5,450 deaths to 3,800
deaths.
-- Electrocutions were reduced 62%, from 650 deaths to 250
deaths.
Since 1981, CPSC's statutes have required the agency to make
two findings before it can issue a mandatory standard; first,
that there is no voluntary standard in place that adequately
addresses the risk of injury of concern, and second, if there is
such a standard, that there is not significant conformance to
that standard. Furthermore, CPSC follows OMB Circular A-119,
which directs agencies to use voluntary standards whenever
possible.
CPSC is extremely active in the development of voluntary
safety standards in the United States. CPSC long ago established
a high level staff position to coordinate voluntary standards
policy activities. CPSC's Voluntary Standards Coordinator is the
Chairman of the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI)
Government Member Council, and as such is a non-voting ANSI Board
member. Commission staff sit on several councils of
Underwriters' Laboratories (UL); in fact, a CPSC staffer is the
first woman member of UL's Electrical Council. CPSC is a member
of the ASTM F-15 Executive Committee for Consumer Products.
These bodies establish domestic and international policies for
the development of voluntary consensus standards. Also, CPSC
staff is active on many of the U.S. code bodies (National
Electric Code, National Fuel Gas Code, etc.) that establish
national model codes for the safe installation of consumer
products. All of these activities are heavily relied on by CPSC
to ensure that adequate safety standards exist for consumer
products. These non-regulatory activities represent the vast
majority of the Agency's standards development activities today.
On occasion, CPSC concludes that mandatory regulations may
be appropriate because of ineffective self-regulation by the
marketplace. However, in these cases the CPSC staff works as
closely as possible with industry to assure that the rulemaking
process is as efficient and effective as possible. For example,
CPSC is currently conducting a regulatory investigation on
upholstered furniture. Technical staff is conducting the
following work in close cooperation with industry: (1) a fire
incident data study to determine the number of fires involving
upholstered furniture and small open flames; (2) testing of
existing furniture to small open flame conditions to evaluate
current furniture performance; and, (3) surveying manufacturers
to gather specific information about the upholstered furniture
market. Industry has been given an opportunity to review our
data collection methodology, our laboratory testing protocols,
and provide input on the type of questions we ask manufacturers
about the market.
There are times when industry prefers a mandatory federal
standard because of the preemptive effects of CPSC's regulations
over state regulation and because of the CPSC's enforcement
capabilities, particularly with imported goods. A recent example
of this is the CPSC's mandatory standard for child-resistant
cigarette lighters. The CPSC was initially proceeding on a dual
track of working on a mandatory and voluntary standard. Then
industry decided to stop all work on the voluntary standard, in
part because of conflicting legislation in two states to regulate
this product. Just as importantly, the domestic manufacturers
were very concerned that overseas manufacturers would not comply
with a voluntary standard and they would therefore be placed at
an economic disadvantage. Because of these considerations, the
industry specifically requested a mandatory regulation.
2) Other Agency Actions To Further the President's Directive
The goal of the CPSC's compliance program is to ensure that
firms comply with the laws, regulations, and standards that
protect consumers from hazardous products. To achieve this goal,
the agency presently conducts three main types of compliance
activities over the 15,000 types of consumer products under its
jurisdiction:
-- Informs industries of CPSC reporting and product
requirements and educates them through seminars and
correspondence, as appropriate;
-- maintains surveillance over consumer products and
follows up on reports of products that may not be in compliance
with federal standards or may be defective and present
substantial risks of injury; and
-- obtains correction of violations of mandatory standards
and recall of hazardous products from the marketplace or
consumers, primarily by working cooperatively with industry but
through litigation when necessary.
There are many examples of the effectiveness of CPSC
compliance corrective actions. To illustrate, the number of
lives saved in one year due to recalls and specific product
modifications are seen in the following:
-- A cradle swing recall saved an estimated 7 lives;
-- a playpen recall saved an estimated 7 lives;
-- a crib recall saved an estimated 24 lives.
Over 95 percent of the 1,400 product violations (instances
of non-compliance with a rule or regulation) the Commission
identified in 1994 were voluntarily corrected. The affected
companies agreed to prospective correction of the products in
question, by labeling (including warnings or instructions for
use), product redesign or use of an appropriate child-resistant
closure.
Of the 1,400 product violations in 1994, CPSC determined
that 170 presented a hazard significant enough to request recall
of the product. As it does in all such cases, the agency
discussed the violation with the affected firm, addressing issues
such as the nature of the violation and the population at risk.
All 170 of these cases resulted in voluntary product recalls. By
voluntarily correcting the problem, firms served their own
interests and the interests of consumers too.
The same "win-win" approach is used with all of the firms
involved with product defect matters where products are
preliminarily found by CPSC staff to present a substantial
product hazard under section 15 of the Consumer Product Safety
Act or the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. In these matters,
the product that could create a substantial risk of injury to the
public is discussed with the responsible importer, manufacturer,
distributor or retailer in terms of the pattern of the defect,
the number of defective products in commerce, severity of the
risk and other factors. Any firms that disagree with a
preliminary staff determination of a substantial product hazard
are entitled to an administrative hearing pursuant to Section 15
of the CPSA. In FY 1994, all firms negotiated mutually
acceptable agreements with CPSC on corrective action plans.
The Commission continues to increase its efforts to
encourage companies to comply voluntarily with its laws and
regulations. A successful example of this approach was the
staff's initiative to explain to industry its obligation under
the new Child Safety Protection Act. On June 16, 1994, Congress
passed the Child Safety Protection Act (CSPA) which amended the
Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), requiring choking hazard
warnings on toys and games containing small parts, small balls,
marbles, and balloons. The requirements, which have broad,
extensive impact on the toy and children's products industry,
became effective on January 1, 1995. In order to explain the new
requirements to industry, CPSC staff took part in industry
meetings in Florida, Washington, D.C., New York, Texas, and
California. The staff also did a mass mailing of information on
the new labeling requirements to some 1,500 toy and children's
products manufacturers and importers.
As a result of the efforts to involve and inform the
regulated industry, staff enforcement efforts thus far have found
a very high level of compliance with these requirements
throughout all levels of the industry. A pilot survey of
imported toys at six selected ports of entry throughout the
country since January 1, 1995, has identified only 13 violations,
a surprisingly low number. CPSC plans to expand its efforts to
ensure compliance with this new regulation.
VI. AUTHORITY TO WAIVE PENALTIES AND
CUTTING FREQUENCY OF REPORTS
In matters of enforcement, CPSC's goal is to protect the
public by achieving a high level of compliance, not simply to
impose penalties. CPSC exercises its enforcement discretion
prudently, with the aim of bringing about compliance with its
laws and regulations without the need for penalties or other
legal remedies.
1) Penalties
CPSC's compliance staff pursues civil or criminal penalties,
as appropriate, generally only in cases where firms have
repeatedly committed prohibited acts or have failed to report
certain information as required under the laws CPSC enforces.
The penalties are in addition to the corrective actions necessary
to correct the product for the future or recall a product from
distribution.
In those cases where the violations identified are minimal
and the firm appears to be taking steps to assure that its
products comply with applicable regulations, the matter is then
put on hold. The staff sends the firm a letter informing it of
the disposition, but states that the firm may be subject to civil
penalties for future violations. The letter informs the firm not
only of the potential civil penalty and the reasons for it, but
also contains suggested options on how to avoid civil penalties
in the future.
If, after reviewing all available information, CPSC's
compliance staff decides that a civil penalty should be pursued,
the staff sends the firm a letter giving it an opportunity to
show cause why a civil penalty is inappropriate. If after
evaluating the firm's response to that show-cause letter the
staff continues to believe a civil penalty is warranted, the
staff attempts to negotiate a settlement. Only if the settlement
attempt is unsuccessful does the staff forward a recommendation
to pursue civil penalties in federal district court to the
Commission for its decision.
CPSC's use of its civil penalty and criminal authority is
used infrequently compared to the number of compliance activities
that are resolved voluntarily. In 1994 the Commission assessed
four civil penalties under the CPSA, eight civil penalties under
the FHSA, two civil penalties and one cease-and-desist order in
lieu of a civil penalty under the FFA, no criminal penalties
under the FHSA, no criminal penalties under the FFA, and no
penalties under the PPPA.
2) Reports
The Commission has no routine, periodic reporting
requirements such as those associated with a number of other
government agencies where employment statistics, financial data,
or production data is required to be reported to the government
on a monthly or quarterly basis. The reporting requirements the
CPSC does have are minimal requirements and are directly related
to the agency's mission to reduce the unreasonable risk of injury
and death from consumer products. The reporting requirements are
under sections 15(b) and 37 of the CPSA, section 102 of the Child
Safety Protection Act, and specific regulations covering four
product categories where information may be required under
certain circumstances.
Some garment and fabric importers, manufacturers and
distributors voluntarily file reports with CPSC that provide
documentation to support their claims regarding their products'
compliance with the FFA. This documentation -- known as
continuing guarantees -- remains on file with CPSC indefinitely
and can be updated whenever a firm chooses. These reports assist
the firms in satisfying the demands of their customers who
require evidence of compliance with the FFA.
Appendix A: This appendix is not included as part of this
document. It consists of the report and proceedings of the
"Safety Sells" conference hosted by CPSC in March 1995. You
can obtain it here, or by fax-on-demand by calling
301-504-0051 from the handset of a fax machine and ordering
document #6001. The fax document is approximately 37 pages
in length.
Appendix B: This appendix is not included as part of this
document. It consists of a number of news releases issued by
CPSC. They are available here as follows:
Announcement of Kids Bike Helmet Study
CPSC and Industry Join Together in Safety Sells Conference
Soccer Goal Deaths Prompt Warning
CPSC and Industry Redesign Products to Save Lives
CPSC Chairman Awards Commendation to Sunbeam, Child-Resistant Closures
CPSC Commends Playskool for High Chair
CPSC Works With Industry to Remove Drawstring
CPSC Chairman Ann Brown Commends Procter and Gamble
Fax-on-demand service users should order document numbers:
95127, 95099, 95061, 95003, 94126, 94108, 94103, and 94050 respectively.