Nearly 60 incidents and one injury to a consumer's hand were reported with the recalled blenders.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Haier America Trading LLC, of New York, N.Y., has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $850,000. The settlement agreement (pdf) has been provisionally accepted by the Commission (4-0).
The settlement resolves CPSC staff allegations that Haier America failed to report immediately to CPSC, as required by federal law, a defect involving its blenders that resulted in nearly 60 incidents and an injury to a consumer’s hand. The nut on the blender that holds the blade assembly can dislodge during use, allowing the blade assembly pieces to break apart, and/or crack the blender’s glass jar, posing a laceration hazard to consumers.
Haier America sold the blenders through retail stores between October 2006 and October 2009. The company became aware of the incidents and injury between January 2007 and September 2009, yet did not file a full report to the Commission until October 2009.
Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect that could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard or ban enforced by CPSC.
CPSC and Haier America announced a recall of nearly 54,000 blenders in December 2009.
In agreeing to the settlement, Haier America denies CPSC staff allegations of the defect and that it violated the law.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to http://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/Subscribe/ (http://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/Subscribe/). Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov (http://www.cpsc.gov).