It’s summer in Australia and barbecues everywhere are being fired up. There’s always a joke about what’s inside a meat sausage – sometimes euphemistically called a ‘mystery bag’. But even though we’re prepared to take our chances on the meat content, we don’t expect a sausage or burger to contain a sharp piece of wire. […]
Imagine if, when you are preparing a meal, you can’t distinguish a plate from the bench that it’s sitting on. Or you go to take a sip of juice, only to realise too late that it’s scalding hot tea. People living with dementia can’t always control their perception and spatial association. This leads to difficulties […]
Among his many roles, Graeme Samuel is a Professorial Fellow at Monash University’s Business School, and School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine. I worked at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) when Graeme was Chair. Since 2014 he has held the position of Chair of Dementia Australia, the national peak body for people impacted […]
If your business sells consumer goods, you will be placing orders now for June next year. If these products or their accessories include button batteries, they will need to comply with the Australian mandatory safety standards which take full effect on 22 June 2022. Any product that doesn’t meet the standards will be illegal after […]
2 minute read Last month the Australian product safety community lost a valuable member. Wen Huang passed away after a long illness and will be very much missed by his many colleagues in the consumer product sector. I knew Wen for many years while he was working with children’s nursery product companies. Wen worked as […]
3-minute read In the past week, while reading about International Women’s Day, I paused to consider the number of women involved in consumer product safety. I decided to write this article to reflect on the key role that women have in consumer safety – as professionals and as consumers. Meaningful work Product safety is a […]
Any Australian business that supplies products that use small silver ‘button’ batteries – or supplies the batteries themselves – will need to comply with new mandatory safety standards under the Australian Consumer Law which were declared in December. After a long period of uncertainty, we now know what the requirements are. All businesses need to […]
4 minute read “MAN GETS EAR BUD STUCK IN THROAT WHILE SLEEPING” That seems like a surprising headline – but it’s a logical risk if you stop to think about it. In product safety we always caution parents not to leave any loose objects in a cot which a baby may put in its mouth. […]
4 – minute read Compliance Officer Day is celebrated on 26 September each year. This year it falls on a Saturday, so you might like to take a moment before then to acknowledge your product safety compliance manager and staff this week. Compliance basics ISO standard 19600 – Compliance management systems – Guidelines sets out […]
5 minute read In many ways 2007 was a gamechanger. It was my job to help keep children safe, but toys became so hazardous we nearly had to cancel Christmas. It was also the year I began writing my first novel. World attention That year I represented Australia at the first ever consumer product safety […]