Microplastics in consumer products

Product safety game changer – microplastics exposure everywhere

3-minute read It’s the news that nobody wants to hear, let alone businesses that sell consumer products, but micro and nano plastics (MNPs) exposure is a rapidly emerging risk. It is a threat to consumer health like no other and is…
Product safety pyramidGail Greatorex

New mandatory labelling standard – Toppling furniture

A major new mandatory labelling standard under the Australian Consumer Law comes into effect on 4 May 2025. The Consumer Goods (Toppling Furniture) Information Standard 2024 aims to reduce injuries from toppling household furniture.…
Product safety compliance officer day
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Happy Compliance Officer Day 2024

26 September is international Compliance Officer Day. Yes, it’s a thing. Working away behind the scenes are thousands of people whose job it is to not just check that the letter of regulations are met, but also the spirit. In consumer…
Button batteries border check

Button battery safety regulations : Are they working?

More than 100 products have been recalled in Australia for breaches of the mandatory safety standards on button batteries!  Next week marks two years since the standards were mandated. Yet there have still been more than 40 products…
Soccer goal not anchored in place

Unsafe soccer fields – a disappointing update

So. Soccer popularity is at an all time high across Australia. Our women’s soccer team, the Matildas, have gone gangbusters in the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The semi final 'crushed all-time television ratings records'. This massive profile…
Dangerous child car seat head strap accessory
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Call for ban on child car seat head strap

4 minute read The forces involved when cars crash are beyond most peoples’ imagination. I remember once seeing a video that showed the impact of a 60kph car crash is comparable to a person falling from a four-storey building. We…
Button battery safety

Button batteries – the most important message

It's international Button Battery Awareness Day on 12 June. The day was set up in the USA by Reese's Purpose, after 17 month-old Reese Hamsmith died from a button battery lodged in her oesophagus. The day is also marked this year by similarly…
ESG and product safety for associations

Product safety, ESG and associations

3 minute read Do you think of product safety as part of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)? ISO 26000 Standard Guidance on Social responsibility includes consumer product safety as a core part of ESG. ESG performance is increasingly…
Soccer goal safety
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Soccer goal safety across Australia

3 minute read I recently took a walk on a warm autumn afternoon, ending up at a local park. Dogs, kids and teenagers were out enjoying the sunshine. But I was dismayed to find, dotted across the park, more than a dozen soccer goals not…
Rattle toy safety

Don’t get rattled with your baby products – Selling safe rattles

Babies are very vulnerable, so any product intended for them must be designed for safety. We all know that, like all toys for kids from birth to 3 years, rattles must not be able to break or have any loose parts that can cause choking.…