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.…
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…
Dementia product design

Well-designed products can help people living with dementia

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…
Dementia design podcast

Podcast interview with Graeme Samuel AC, Chair of Dementia Australia

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…
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…
Wen Huang product safetySupplied by family

A tribute to Wen Huang – Product safety professional

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…
Women in product safety

Women in consumer product safety

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…
Association product safety

Associations need to act on button battery products

4 minute read 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…
Ear bud safety

How safe are Ear buds?

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…
Celebrate compliance officer day

Where would you be without compliance? Celebrate Compliance Officer Day

 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…