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 -…
Matt Smith ICIX podcast

Product safety podcast – Interview with Matthew Smith

Interview with Matt Smith, President and Founder of supply chain transparency company ICIX How do you know what’s in your products? Which companies are supplying the component parts? Who’s provided them with the raw materials?…
Product safety IoT

IoT product safety – Work in progress

How will technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) impact consumer product safety? The future is rushing towards us and we may need a new frame of reference. There’s plenty of attention on this issue and many minds are exercised.…
Button battery retail display

Button batteries – more action needed

Back in 2015 I wrote that injuries from children ingesting button batteries is the most challenging product safety problem I know of. Some good work has gone into managing the problem since then, but serious injuries are still happening and…
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…
Regulation commencement date
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Regulation commencement dates

  “The regulation takes effect on 1 January.”   “So, who will be at work to implement this? Or to enforce it?” and “What work is needed during December to gear up for implementation?”     1…
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…
Thermomix Court case

Disregard for consumer safety and the law

Record fines for breaching the product safety laws have been ordered in the Federal Court. Findings showed Thermomix's clear disregard for consumer safety and the law. Well done to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for taking…
Product safety policy

ACCC on product safety – policy and priorities

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has raised the profile of product safety over the past month. Following its work on the massive compulsory recall of Takata airbags, the ACCC has taken some key steps to promote the cause…
Electric kettle safety

Is your electric kettle safe? A lesson for all product suppliers

We all want to feel assured our kettles will hold themselves together when we're making a nice cup of tea. A handle coming away from a kettle full of scalding hot water is an obvious hazard - scald injuries can be very serious. There…