SaferProducts.gov, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s consumer database that allows people to share and access safety information about the products they own and consider buying, is celebrating its first year anniversary.
Consumer organizations – the Consumer Federation of America, Kids In Danger, and Consumers Union – conducted an analysis of the reports published in the database through January 2012.
The consumer groups supported the creation of the database and think it’s an important tool to educate consumers about product safety hazards and improve the commission’s ability to identify and act on problems in the marketplace.
In the analysis of the first 10 months of reports, it’s clear that the database is working as intended, giving consumers a place to report and review reports, the groups said in a statement. Of the more than 6,000 reports, consumers submitted almost all.
The reports products ranged from kitchen appliances to cribs to shoes to lighting products. The largest group of reports is about kitchen products, 37 percent, especially appliances, 33 percent. Reports about children’s products, including toys and nursery items, made up15 percent of the complaints.
“Our analysis of the database shows that consumers and the CPSC now have access to useful information about many types of consumer products – information that was not available to the public before,” Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety and senior counsel at Consumer Federation of America, said in a statement. “Consumers are no longer completely left in the dark about product safety and have access to lifesaving information.”
Concerns had been raised about the lack of information in the reports, but the additional information in most reports makes it possible to accurately identify the product involved.
Manufacturers exercised their right to post additional comments on 53 percent of reports.
In addition, most reports, 70 percent, involved products purchased in the last five years.
While incidents affecting consumers of all ages were reported, those involving people aged 41-50 were most frequent, making up 17.9 percent of reports.
The database is required under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. It went live on March 11, 2011, and posted the first reports on April 2, 2011.
The database has been under attack by some lawmakers who have pushed to defund it and by a lawsuit filed by an anonymous company.
While the commission has collected consumer complaints in the past, most were hidden from the public unless a recall was announced and then the incidents were usually only announced in the aggregate. Provisions in the Consumer Product Safety Act limited the commission’s ability to alert consumers without the company’s approval.
While reports of harm or potential harm from manufacturers or retailers about unsafe products are still kept in the dark, SaferProducts.gov is shedding light on the safety of products in the marketplace by publishing consumer experiences.
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