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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 […]
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. […]
3 minute read We will shortly see the retirement of a veteran consumer product safety colleague. I’d like to pay tribute to Martin Rushton, who has been the mainstay of New Zealand’s product safety agency for around 15 years. (He was due to leave a few weeks ago, but has stayed on due to New […]
5 minute read There’s three things that mark out button batteries as a critical product safety hazard – the severity of the injuries, the ongoing rate of those injuries and the breadth of exposure to the product. Swallowing a button battery can be catastrophic. Many deaths have occurred around the world, including two in Australia. […]
3 minute read Keeping the family safe in isolation When kids are stuck indoors, they can get creative in how they keep themselves entertained. This article highlights three known hazards around the home that parents and carers need to watch out for. Magnetic toys Toys with small high-powered magnets are banned in Australia, because children […]
4-minute read A few questions have been raised on the actual danger posed by small and medium button batteries. Some misconceptions have been circulating about: how dangerous they are, how the body responds, and the type of treatment needed if ingested or inserted. Button batteries can cause serious injuries if swallowed, and we know that […]
National Consumer Congress 2019 held in Melbourne, 14 March 2019 This is Part 1 of the product safety panel discussion transcript from the 2019 national consumer congress. The full audio recording is available on podcast. The safety of products we buy and use is important to every Australian. An unsafe product can have far reaching […]
National Consumer Congress 2019 held in Melbourne, 14 March 2019 This is Part 2 of the product safety panel discussion transcript from the 2019 national consumer congress. The full audio recording is available on podcast. Moderator – Delia Rickard, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Dr Ruth Barker, Pediatrician and Director, Queensland Injury Surveillance […]