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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…
BBQ brush
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Wire in your Barbecued Sausage?

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…
Button batteries compliance

Placing product orders for June 2022 – Button battery regulations!

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…
Martin Rushton product safetyGail's iphone

Farewell and thanks to a valued colleague – Martin Rushton

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…
Influence consumer product safety
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New product safety laws being considered

3 minute read What changes are needed in Australian consumer policy to improve product safety? A Treasury consultation paper discussing a series of options to improve the current consumer product safety system is currently out for…
Button battery gold star

Button batteries – what good businesses are doing

Despite some good efforts, the rate of serious injuries in Australia from kids swallowing button batteries is not going down. Some estimates are at one per month, which is a shocking statistic. In my blog article: Button batteries -…
Companies behaving badly

Companies behaving badly? – Product safety

On 13 July 2018, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chair, Rod Sims, delivered a speech at the 2018 Giblin Lecture on the poor behaviours the ACCC has seen from companies. This is an edited extract of Mr Sims’ speech, with additional…
Product safety challenges

Paradigm shift needed for product safety in Australia

Last year I attended one of the rare product safety seminars held in Australia. At that event, participants were tasked with identifying ways product safety practitioners can work effectively in a competitive commercial environment. Contrary…
Product recall costs

Product recall costs revealed

Patties' frozen berry case in the courts This case provides a good insight into the costs associated with product recalls. In 2015, Australian leading frozen food supplier, Patties was forced to recall Nanna’s and Creative…
Packaging product safety

Suppliers – choose packaging with product safety in mind

We’ve all seen courier vans buzzing around our streets delivering goods that have been purchased online. Are the couriers careful with the boxes? Are the goods in sound condition when they arrive? I recently read an article in Melbourne’s…