A new website aimed at informing consumers about potential hazards of common household products launched earlier this week.
The U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has set up its SaferProducts.gov database. This website has been mandated by Congress, as part of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act to help reduce the risks of personal injury in New York and elsewhere because of faulty, hazardous consumer products.
“CPSC stayed on time and on budget in building this new database,” said Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum. “Through SaferProducts.gov consumers will have open access to product safety information that they have never seen before and the information will empower them to make safer choices.”
Our New York injury attorneys understand that, up until now, there have been virtually no government-mandated databases for this type of useful information. With this website, consumers can reduce the risks of at-home injury by actively informing themselves about the products and appliances they commonly use. If you are injured by a consumer product, you are advised to contact an experienced attorney as taking on these large corporations to gain rightful compensation can be difficult, time-consuming and confusing.
If you’re aware of a product that may cause harm or have the potential to cause harm, you are asked to submit a report to the CPSC website. They will then have five business days to forward that report on to the product manufacturer. Once the manufacturer has received that report, they will have 10 business days to reply with any comments or claims. At the end of that 10 business day period, and after all requirements are met, the report and the comments will be posted to the website for all consumers to see.
The CPSC would like to remind consumers that they will not be posting information that is faulty or inaccurate. Reports lacking required information and those revealing confidential information will not be posted either. Lastly, information in a report determined to be materially inaccurate within the 10 days after it has been provided to manufacturers to respond will not be published.
“I believe that an informed consumer is an empowered consumer,” Tenenbaum said. “The ability for parents and consumers to search this database for incidents involving a product they already own or are thinking of purchasing will enable them to make independent decisions aimed at keeping their family safe.”
The CPSC started registering businesses and accepting reports through the website in January. Since then, the website has received approximately 1,500 reports and has signed up about 1400 manufacturers. The manufacturers sign up though the website’s Business Portal so that they can receive any reports pertaining to their products via email in a timely manner.
“We will continue to accept written, phone and fax reports, as we have for decades,” Tenenbaum said. “What is new and significant today is that we are launching an up-to-date system for letting consumers review safety reports alongside manufacturer comments about those reports.”
New York personal injury attorney Nicholas Rose is dedicated to fighting for the rights of victims and their families. If you have been injured, contact the Law Offices of Nicholas Rose for a free and confidential appointment. Call toll free at 1-877-313-ROSE(7673) or 718-261-0546.
