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 January 20, 2012
Just in time for the cold weather, we have new information on carbon monoxide (CO) deaths associated with the use of consumer products.
In 2008 — the latest year for which we have complete data — there were about 190 unintentional non-fire CO-poisoning deaths associated with consumer products under our jurisdiction. The product associated with most of these deaths? Portable generators.
As more people use portable generators, the numbers of CO-related deaths have increased. In 1999 there were seven generator-related CO deaths. In 2008 the number of deaths reached 86. That’s an increase of more than 1,000 percent.
Carbon monoxide is an invisible killer that strikes within minutes. You can protect yourself with a few simple safety rules:
- Install working CO alarms in your home. Make sure the alarm is battery-operated or has a battery-backup so it works during a power outage.
- Keep all generators outside of your home, away from doors and windows.
- Never use a generator in a garage, basement, crawl space, shed or on a porch.
Most CO-related deaths happen from November through February — the cold months. This makes sense, of course. In colder months, we use our furnaces and fuel-burning space heaters. When we lose power during storms, more and more of you power up your portable generators.
CO deaths also occur when charcoal is used indoors. Just like generators, keep burning charcoal outside, away from the house.
Let’s see if we can work together to drop the number of carbon monoxide-related deaths.
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.)
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2012/01/co-deaths-continue-to-rise/
By CPSC Blogger on December 29, 2011
Fireplaces are a symbol of a warm and welcoming home. But using them improperly can lead to tragedies.
Tragedies involving fires pull at our heartstrings — like the Christmas morning fire that tragically killed three children and their grandparents in Stamford, Conn. (Source: Ct. Post)
According to the Connecticut Post, the family had used their fireplace that day. Stamford, Ct.’s chief fire marshal told the Ct. Post that the initial investigation determined that the fireplace ashes and embers were discarded in a bag, which started the fire.
Based on news stories, it’s currently unclear whether there were any working smoke alarms in the home.
We at CPSC are truly saddened by these deaths and others like them.
SO PLEASE MAKE A MENTAL NOTE: Before starting a fire in the fireplace, make sure ALL of your home’s smoke alarms are working.
Even hard-wired smoke alarm systems need a battery backup, by the way.
That brings us to Mental Note No. 2: Soak hot ashes in water and place them in a covered metal container outside of your home. That’s the recommendation of the U.S. Fire Administration.
Every year, more than 3,000 people die in residential fires. About two-thirds of home fire deaths happen in homes with no working smoke alarms. You can cut the risk of dying from a fire by almost half by simply having properly installed and maintained smoke alarms in your home.
When did you last check your smoke alarms? Do you test them every month? Smoke alarms save lives every year. But remember, they can only save your life if they are able to warn you!
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/12/working-smoke-alarms-your-life-may-depend-on-them/
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 found 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 December 20, 2011
Small parts and small children can be a deadly combination. To prevent young children from choking, children’s toys and games, as well as balloons, have warning labels. These labels help you keep small things away from your little ones.
But what are small parts? And why should parents be concerned about them?
First, this is a small parts tester:
The cylinder is 2.25 inches long by 1.25 inches wide. That’s about the size of a 3-year-old’s throat. The opening is slightly wider than a quarter or about the width of two fingers:
Note: Some parents use a toilet paper roll as a practical alternative to a small parts tester. Parents should be aware that the toilet paper roll is wider and longer than the official tester.
If a toy or a piece of a toy intended for a child younger than 3 fits fully into the cylinder, that toy is banned. This federal law has been around for decades and has helped prevent children from choking on products. Small parts can get stuck in a child’s throat and be deadly.
In 2010, 9 of the17 toy-related deaths were associated with young children swallowing balloons, small balls and parts of toys or games. From reports that provided details, we know that some of those deaths were from items that fit into the tester. High-powered magnets that we wrote about earlier this month fit in there, too, as do button batteries that power musical holiday cards, remote controls, flashlights and other products in many homes.
Toys and games intended for children ages 3 to 6 that have small parts must have a warning label. This holiday season, as you buy presents for the young children on your list, look closely for warning labels like this:
Be mindful that age labels on toys are not just based on your children’s smarts, but are also for their safety.
If a toy warns that it’s not for children younger than 3, then really, that toy is NOT safe for young children. If your younger child has older siblings around, make sure that big sister or brother’s toys and toy parts are out of reach at all times.
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/12/small-parts-what-parents-need-to-know/
By CPSC Blogger on December 14, 2011
CLICK!
That’s the sound you often hear when you close the child-resistant cap on a medicine bottle.
Imagine this scenario: It’s the middle of the night and your sick child needs a dose of fever reducing medicine. You’re only half awake and caring for your child. You give your child the medicine and head back to bed.
CLICK. Did you hear it? Sometimes you won’t. But be sure the cap is closed tightly. Even in your most sleep-deprived hours, check the cap.
Most emergency room visits involving 2-year-olds happen after children find and eat or drink medicines when adults aren’t looking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And each year, the nation’s poison control centers field more than 2 million calls because of unintentional poisonings.
This is why you need to put the bottles UP and AWAY.
Like many parents, you may think child-resistant caps fully prevent children from opening medications. Wrong. Child-resistant caps simply give you more time to prevent children from getting into medicines.
The regulation that covers child-resistant packaging works. Since the Poison Prevention Packaging Act was passed in 1970, there has been a 40% decline in aspirin poisonings alone with the use of child-resistant closures. That’s hundreds of children’s lives that have been saved.
Your vigilance can prevent the poisonings that continue to happen. Click, Up and Away. [Link will go back to the CDC campaign]
Follow these steps to keep children safe around medicine:
Put the medicine up and away. Layers of protection are best. That means put it up in a cabinet or closet out of sight. Locks or child-resistant latches are recommended.
- Never call medicine “candy.”
- Ask for and use child-resistant closures on your medicines.
- Keep medicines in their original containers. Don’t transfer them to bottles, day-minders, cups or non-child-resistant containers.
- Take your medicines out of sight of young children, because young children tend to imitate adults.
Remember, young children will eat or drink almost anything. Poison prevention starts with you!
This address for this post is: http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/12/three-words-for-poison-prevention-click-up-and-away/
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