Welcome to the October edition of the Alston & Bird CPSC Recall Snapshot.

Earlier this month, CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye took the uncommon step of threatening furniture makers with mandatory federal rules to address furniture tip-overs. Specifically, Chairman Kaye demanded that the industry strengthen its voluntary standards to prevent its products from tipping over and injuring or killing children, stating, “the current standard just does not get the job done and it needs to be revised now.” This comes after Chairman Kaye took the unusual step of promoting two recent staff reports that found the voluntary standards to be “insufficient.” As for changes to the voluntary rule, Chairman Kaye mentioned four specific areas for improvement: (1) testing to the weight of a normal five-year-old; (2) considering dynamic rather than static testing procedures; (3) including carpet in testing; and (4) ensuring effective placement of warning labels. Chairman Kaye expects to know by November whether the industry will attempt to disprove the CPSC’s work and conclusions or will make efforts to address the concerns raised by the CPSC.