79 / 114
Y
ikes! We’re barely past the
halfway point of 2016 and already
a whopping $25 million in civil penalties
has been assessed against businesses this
year for product safety violations. A civil
penalty is a fine levied by a regulatory
agency of the federal government—in
this case, the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC), the agency
charged with protecting consumers
against unsafe products.
The magnitude of these penalties
should not be a surprise to PPAI
members. In his keynote address at
PPAI’s 2015 Product Responsibility
Summit, CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye told
our attendees that we should expect to
see the commission assess significantly
higher civil penalties in 2016 than in the
past because, as Kaye sees it, it is the
only way some companies will get the
message that the agency is serious about
protecting consumers. CPSC has shown
the same enforcement resolve in the
constant stream of recalls it announces
each week, many relating to lithium ion
batteries, a component found in dozens
of promotional products. On July 6, the
commission ordered 10 companies to
recall a combined 500,000 lithium ion-
powered hoverboards because of the risk
of overheating, fire and explosion. If the
by
Rick Brenner, MAS+
In this challenging
regulatory environment, it
is prudent for all suppliers
and distributors to redouble
their efforts to educate their
employees on safety and
compliance basics.
|
SEPTEMBER 2016
|
77
The Case For Revisiting Product Safety
|
FEATURE