Release Details
Mr. Barrett, who joined the Commission on December 17, 1973, said he will resume his career in private industry. Barrett said he believes he has "now fulfilled my deeply- felt obligation to public service and made a personal contribution to a country I owe so much."
He said he "accepted the challenge" to become the Commission's first Executive Director because of the tremendous opportunities the Commission faced in dealing with the problem of "millions of innocent Americans who were being injured, maimed and killed by consumer products at a time when consumer awareness was only beginning to emerge."
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 or teletypewriter at 301-595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.
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