Skip to main content

Voluntary Standards

What are voluntary standards?

Through collaboration with voluntary standard organizations (like ANSI, ASTM, CSA, UL, and others) safety standards are developed for consumer products. In many cases, these standards bring industry groups, government agencies, and consumer groups together to agree on best consumer product safety practices. Read more about what this may mean for manufacturers, and how standards can be used to help lead towards the development safe consumer products.

Voluntary Standards Summary Reports

The Voluntary Standards Summary Report is published twice a year and shows, among other things, product or product areas associated with the voluntary standards work, the name of the employee leading each activity, the name(s) and designation(s) of the standards associated with the product, the purpose of staff’s involvement, the reporting period activity, and staff’s next actions associated with the voluntary standard. The report is issued at the middle (mid-year report) and end (annual report) of the CPSC fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30.

Consumer Participation is Welcomed

The development of a voluntary standard requires consumer input. Achieving a balanced perspective on a committee is often a challenge because consumer participants are difficult to recruit. If you are a consumer and you want to contribute to a voluntary standard or hear more about the development of an individual standard, please contact the Consumer Ombudsman.

Current Staff Activities in Voluntary Standards
Previous Reports

Current Staff Activities in Voluntary Standards

  • Architectural Glazing
  • All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)
  • Baby Monitors
  • Bassinets/ Cradles
  • Batteries (Button, Coin Cell, Lithium, Toy, and Electronic Devices)
  • Bed Rails (Adult)
  • Bedside Sleepers
  • Bicycles
  • Booster Seats
  • Candles and Candle Accessories
  • Changing Tables
  • Child-Resistant Packaging (CRP)
  • Clothes Dryers
  • Constant-Air Inflatable Play Devices (for Home Use)
  • Crib Bumpers
  • Cribs (Non-Full-Size) and Play Yards
  • Cribs (Commercial)
  • Cribs (Full-Size)
  • Fireworks
  • Flammable Liquids (Containers/Material Handling)
  • Flammable Refrigerants
  • Folding Chairs and Stools (Children’s)
  • Formaldehyde in MDF
  • Formaldehyde in Particleboard
  • Frame Child Carriers
  • Fuel Tanks (Leakage)
  • Furniture Tip Over
  • Garage Door Operators
  • Gas Ranges (Control Panels)
  • Gasoline Containers (Child-Resistant Containers)
  • Gasoline Containers (Flame Arresters)
  • Gates and Other Enclosures
  • Hand-Held Carriers
  • Helmets (Recreational)
  • High Chairs
  • Hook-on Chairs
  • Inclined Sleep Products
  • Infant Bath Seats
  • Infant Bath Tubs
  • Infant Bouncers
  • Infant Slings (Sling Carriers)
  • Infant Swings
  • Infant Walkers
  • Liquid Laundry Packets
  • Mattresses
  • Mowers
  • National Electrical Code (NEC)
  • Nanotechnology
  • Phthalates
  • Playground Equipment (Home)
  • Playground Equipment (Public)
  • Portable Bed Rails (Children’s)
  • Portable Fireplaces (Firepots and Unvented Alcohol Appliances)
  • Portable Generators
  • Power Equipment (formerly Table Saws)
  • Ranges (Tip-Over)
  • Recreational Off-Road Vehicles (ROVs)
  • Smoke Alarms
  • Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers
  • Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation (Residential Off-Gas)
  • Stationary Activity Centers
  • Strollers
  • Swimming Pools and Spas
  • Tents
  • Toddler Beds
  • Torch Fuel and Lamp Oil
  • Toys
  • Upholstered Furniture
  • Vented Gas Heating Appliances (CO Sensors) (Formerly Furnaces)
  • Window Coverings (Blind Cords)

For more information on specific voluntary standards, or to purchase them, contacts these groups.

Staff Meetings Involving Voluntary Standards

Staff Correspondence Relating to Voluntary Standards

 

Report an unsafe product