U.S. CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

SAVING LIVES THROUGH SMART GOVERNMENT

SUCCESS STORIES (MARCH 1996)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) uses all available tools to achieve its mission -- saving lives and keeping families safe in their homes. The following activities show how CPSC prevents tens of thousands of deaths and injuries through "smart government" and by following a general philosophy that mandatory regulations should be used only if necessary.

1. CPSC Works with Industry. CPSC has worked with industry to develop over 300 voluntary standards. These efforts have saved lives and reduced injuries by making changes to products such as drawstrings on children's clothing, window pull cords, cribs, hair dryers, and bicycles. CPSC and industry also cooperate by recalling and correcting harmful products.

2. CPSC Builds Successful Partnerships. Building successful partnerships with regulated industries and other agencies has led to the success of CPSC's "product safety triangle" -- government, industry, consumers: working together. Many businesses include a margin of safety in all their products because today they know that safety sells. CPSC has built successful partnerships for its Baby Safety Showers, Safety Sells Conference, and Infant Suffocation Prevention Campaign.

3. CPSC Uses Resources Efficiently. CPSC continually "reinvents" the agency to better serve its ultimate customers -- American consumers, families, and businesses. The Commission does more with less in its programs: CPSC's new Hotline; commendation awards for outstanding safety initiatives; video news releases to reach more consumers with safety information; an improved information Clearinghouse; and compliance initiatives.

4. CPSC Regulates When Necessary. CPSC regulates only if necessary when negotiated voluntary standards and the marketplace prove to be ineffective: rules for child-resistant cigarette lighters; child-resistant packaging for prescription drugs and medicines; fireworks; and, lead-in-paint. These necessary regulations all saved the lives or improved the health of many Americans. There have, however, been fewer than 50 such mandatory regulations -- less than one-sixth the number of voluntary standards that CPSC has worked with industry to develop.

In seven examples set forth in this booklet, CPSC actions have collectively saved an estimated 350 to 400 lives and prevented tens of thousands of injuries every year. The value to society is nearly $2 billion annually.

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