Product Liability Law Blog

In the first quarter of fiscal year 2012, Consumer Product Safety Commission port investigators and US Customs Border Protection agents have stopped nearly 650,000 units (of approximately 240 different noncomplying products) from entering the country and reaching consumers. They screened over 2,900 shipments at ports of entry throughout the country and pulled the items that they determined were unsafe and/or violated US safety rules.

Most of the products that the agents and inspectors halted were for children (527,950 units). Some of the reasons they didn't make it through included lead paint violations, small parts, phthalates, which are banned from child products, tracking label violations, misbranding, and other violations involving art materials, battery-operated toys, baby walkers, magnets, baby rattles, clacker balls, and toys with sharp points or chemical hazards. Adult products (119,410) that were stopped included holiday lights, hair dryers, lighters, luminaries, fireworks, and bicycles.

In fiscal year 2011, the federal safety agency had examined over 9,900 product shipments at US ports. Nearly 4.5 million units of products considered hazardous or violative were stopped from reaching consumers.

Products Liability
At The Gilbert Law Group, our products liability lawyers have the skills and experience to represent children and adults injured by defective products, including dangerous or hazardous toys, appliances, furniture, electrical products, recreational equipment, and accessories. Even though the CPSC works hard to prevent manufacturers and distributors from producing and bringing unsafe products into the marketplace, it is obvious from the number of recalls that continue to be announced every month that there are many unsafe units that still manage to make their way in, posing a serious injury and health risk to consumers.

This month alone there have been over 10 products recalled already over fire dangers, fall hazards, fingertip amputation and laceration risks, and suffocation and entrapment dangers. Recalled items included approximately 16,700 Rockland Furniture Drop-side cribs for the usual strangulation, suffocation, and entrapment hazards posed by this type of design, about 40,000 Topeak Babyseat II Bicycle Carrier Seats (the grab bar's hinge mechanism can cause fingertip amputation and laceration injuries), around 2,000 Viking dishwashers due to an electrical issue that may cause them to overheat and start a fire, and more than 307,000 Office Depot® Brand Biella Leather Desk Chairs that can cause fall injuries should the chair to come off its base. Already there have been several reports of minor injuries.

Port Surveillance News: CPSC Investigators Find, Stop Nearly 650,000 Unsafe Products at the Start of Fiscal Year 2012, CPSC, April 5, 2012

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Consumer Reports

More Blog Posts:
Even as Number of Children's Product Recalls Went Down in 2011, Injuries Rose, Product Liability Law Blog, April 13, 2012

More Pourable Gel Fuel Recalled by Manufacturers, Product Liability Law Blog, September 30, 2011

CPSC Now Ready to Talk About Tougher Safety Regulations for Table Saws, Product Liability Law Blog, September 28, 2011

Continue reading "CPSC Stopped About 647,000 Unsafe Products from Entering the US During 1st Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012 " »

According to a report released by Kids In Danger (KID), although the number of children's products that were recalled last year declined by 24%, there was a 7% increase in the number injuries and incidents related to the recalls. The advocacy group says that because of the confidentiality involving the recall process, it can be hard to figure out the reason for the decrease in recalls. For example, could there really be less dangerous products in the marketplace now or was the Consumer Product Safety Commission unable to get companies to recall certain products?

The decline in recalls, however, does come just as new requirements for testing and standards have gone into effect as part of the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). That said, any child injuries caused by any products, whether recalled or not, is never a positive development. Our products liability lawyers at the Gilbert Law Group make it our business to help children and their families obtain the personal injury or wrongful death compensation that they are owed.

Per some of KID's findings in its report, in 2011:
• The CPSC recalled 121 children's products (39% of the total products it recalled).
• There were over 11.6 million units of kids products recalled.
• Three recalls involved at least a million units or more, respectively.
• The biggest recalls involved 1.7 million baby monitors (over concerns they posed a strangulation hazard) and 1.7 million toy tools and workbenches over worries that their parts might end up stuck in a child's throat.
• 30% of the children's products recalled were nursery products.
• 26% of the children's products recalled were toys.
• Little girl's KEDS shoes with decorative stars caused the most injuries with 27 laceration reports.
• 14 sleep environment products, including a bassinet, a crib, a canopy bed, and bunk beds were recalled.
• Prior to its recalled, the Adventure Playset Swingset was named in 500 incident reports.
• A remote control chopper, a swing set, and pogo sticks received over 100 reports before their recalls were announced.

Children and babies are vulnerable to serious injuries and even death when exposed to a product that is unsafe for use. It is unfortunate that there are still kids' products out there that continue to pose the hazards of choking, laceration, suffocation, strangulation, toxic poisoning, or other dangers.

You may be able to sue the manufacturer, distributor, seller, or retailer that allowed you to have access/purchase a dangerous/defective/malfunctioning product. Even when a product is used as intended, if it proves to be dangerous and causes serious harm, you still may have grounds for a products liability case.

A Measure of Safety: Children's Product Recalls in 2011, KIDS in Danger, KIDS, March 26, 2012

Read the Report (PDF)

Consumer Product Safety Commission

More Blog Posts:
Consumer Groups Coalition Ask CPSC to Recall Bumbo Baby Seat, Product Liability Law Blog, February 7, 2012

Clothing Defects: Apparel Industry Must Follow Standards for Children's Loungewear and Sleepwear, Says CPSC, Product Liability Law Blog, January 18, 2012

Can Loud Toys Impair Children's Hearing?, Product Liability Law Blog, January 12, 2012

Continue reading "Even as Number of Children's Product Recalls Went Down in 2011, Injuries Rose" »

Nearly a decade after finding out that table saws can cause serious injuries to users, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is now ready to talk about creating tougher safety standards for these products. The delay comes after years of bureaucratic hurdles, extensive study into the matter, and other regulatory work.

Table saws cause about 10 finger amputations a year. Fractures are also a common table saw-related injury, with laceration injuries the most common. Also, per a recent CPSC study, in 2007 and 2008 about 66,900 people were treated at an emergency room for table saw blade contact injuries. If you or someone you love suffered an injury from using a table saw you may be able to file a products liability complaint against the manufacturer. Hundreds of table saw lawsuits have already been filed by injury victims and their families.

Last year, a jury awarded a $1.5 million Massachusetts appliance defect verdict to Carlos Osorio, who injured his fingers while using a table saw when laying hardwood floors. One World Technologies Inc. was found guilty of breach of warranty of merchantability and negligence. Because the table saw accident severed two of his tendons, Osorio's hand is now stuck in one fixed position. The plaintiff's table saw attorneys had argued that if SawStop, (a blade outfitted with technology that stops when it sense a body part) had been implemented with this particular product, then Osorio's hand would have been saved.

Stephen Gass, is the inventor of SawStop. Although he was the one who convinced the CPSC to accept his petition for rulemaking in 2002 when President Bush was president, since the Commission didn't draft the rule then, a new vote will have to be made now. The CPSC will also have to be careful to consider whether regulation it comes up with will limit market place competition in favor of Gass's "flesh-sensing" technology. Next month, the federal agency will vote on whether to initiate first steps toward mandatory regulation.

Meantime, the Power Tool Institute, which represents table saw manufacturers, says that the saws' blade guards have since been improved so that they protect against injuries. It also says that this year, no new table saw lawsuits have so far been filed.

More Table Saw Injury/Accident Facts from the CPSC's 2009 study:

• 95.7% of injuries were sustained by table saw operators.
• 88% of injuries involved contact with the saw blade.
• Fixed cabinet saws, semiportable contractor saws, and portable bench saws have all been known to cause injuries.
• In 78.7% of injury incidents, the table saw lacked a safety switch. In numerous instances, the blade had been removed for the sake of convenience.
• Avulsions, abrasions, and contusions are examples of other table saw injuries.
• Aside from the fingers and hands, injuries to the eyes, head, face, and wrists were also reported.

According to the National Consumers League, table saw injuries cause accident victims about $31,000/year.

Table saw manufacturers can be held liable for failing to do everything possible make a product that is safe for use, not warning about possible dangers, or not including instructions to ensure safe use.

Survey of Injuries Involving Stationary Table Saws, CPSC (PDF)

Table Saw Injuries Out of Control, National Consumers League says, Consumer Chronicle, May 25, 2011

Consumer Product Safety Commission to discuss stricter regulations for table saws, The Washington Post, September 23, 2011

CPSC wants to stop daily table saw amputations, USA Today, February 2, 2011

More Blog Posts:
Preventing Injuries to Children: Are Gas Fireplaces a Burn Hazard?, Product Liability Law Blog, March 8, 2010

Products Liability Settlements Reached In Furniture Defect Lawsuits Against Martha Stewart and Kmart Over Patio Chairs That Caused Finger Injuries, Product Liability Law Blog, August 20, 2011

Treadmill Accident: Mike Tyson's Daughter Dies After Her Neck Gets Caught in Exercise Machine Cord, Product Liability Law Blog, May 30, 2009

Continue reading "CPSC Now Ready to Talk About Tougher Safety Regulations for Table Saws " »