The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was well represented at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization’s annual symposium in Orlando, which took place in February. Agency representatives provided a number of insights to consumer product safety stakeholders. This week, we will be providing an overview of topics covered by CPSC at ICPHSO, starting with CPSC’s 2024 priorities.
Throughout the symposium, CPSC representatives highlighted the agency’s priorities as presented in the agency’s 2024 Operating Plan, including planned final rules, planned proposed rules, and enforcement priorities.
In addition to final rules for ATVs and general wearing apparel that it issued earlier this year, CPSC plans to finalize proposed rules for gas furnaces, infant and toddler rockers, infant support cushions, nursing pillows, portable generators, table saws, and window covering cords. CPSC Chair Alexander Hoehn-Saric and CPSC Executive Director Austin Schlick both highlighted the importance of finalizing the proposed rule for table saws, given the reported frequency and severity of hazards associated with table saws. According to the proposed rule, table saws cause 54,800 medically treated injuries each year from contact with the blade. The rule would purportedly result in $625 million to $2.3 billion in net annual benefit.
CPSC also plans to propose mandatory safety standards in 2024 for aerosol dusters, bassinets, button cell and coin batteries in toys (not covered by Reese’s Law), infant carriers, lithium-ion batteries in micromobility products, water beads, and water floats.
Schlick communicated CPSC’s intent to prioritize enforcement of recently enacted rules, including those adding or amending safety standards for adult portable bedrails, ATVs, clothing storage units, high-powered magnets, infant sleep products, and button cell and coin batteries. But CPSC Deputy Director of the Office of Compliance and Field Operations Jen Sultan advised that this does not mean CPSC will neglect other mandatory safety rules; she stressed that CPSC always prioritizes recently enacted rules, as many products often lag behind new rules. Interested parties need look no further than the agency’s demonstrated focus on enforcement in recent years to know CPSC has cast a wide net in its enforcement activities.
CPSC has an ambitious agenda in 2024 according to Hoehn-Saric, despite lacking clarity on the agency’s budget over five months into the agency’s fiscal year, which the appropriations committee reportedly plans to revisit sometime this month. But he promised the “small but mighty” agency will continue its priorities and efforts “to do more with less.” Hoehn-Saric closed his keynote address by reiterating that CPSC will make the most of whatever resources it has for the remainder of its fiscal year to implement its priorities and pursue the agency’s missions.
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