The Final State of the Union
This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.
Summary:
More than 6,600 people have reported products that caused harm or have the potential to harm someone in and around the home to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's website in its first year. Check out the top 10 products most commonly reported.
Ed note: this post was originally published at On Safety, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's official blog
One year! That’s how long it’s been since the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission launched SaferProducts.gov. This first year of the government’s consumer products safety information website has been the year of the empowered consumer.
Here’s what Year One has looked like:
So far, more than 6,600 of you have reported products to CPSC that caused harm or have the potential to harm someone in and around your home. These reports are published and available for all consumers to see and use. More are published every day.
SaferProducts.gov is valuable to consumers because now there is a single place where you can search for incident reports about products, file an incident report, or check for recall information. Before SaferProducts.gov, you would have had to file a Freedom of Information Act request about a specific product and manufacturer to learn about consumer product complaints received by CPSC. Now, you can search for this public information easily on the website.
About 36% of your reports involve kitchen products. Mostly, those involve electric ranges or ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators, microwaves and coffee and tea pots. Here’s a list of the Top 10 reports to SaferProducts.gov:
| Most Common SaferProducts.gov Reports by Product Type (as of March 1, 2012) | ||
| Product | Reports to SaferProducts.gov | Percent of Reports |
| Electric ranges or ovens(excl. countertop ovens) | 638 | 9.7% |
| Dishwashers | 440 | 6.7% |
| Footwear | 293 | 4.5% |
| Refrigerators | 277 | 4.2% |
| Microwave Ovens | 190 | 2.9% |
| Light Bulbs | 164 | 2.5% |
| Gas ranges and ovens | 146 | 2.2% |
| Electric coffee makers or tea pots | 144 | 2.2% |
| Cribs | 134 | 2.0% |
| Non-metal cookware | 114 | 1.7% |
So, what’s next in Year Two of SaferProducts.gov? First, we want more consumers to learn about and use this valuable public resource. So, we’re launching a public service video campaign. We hope these videos will make you laugh and make you more informed all at once. So, enjoy… and then share.
Second, we have been hard at work on a set of challenges for app developers. Over the next year, we will open a stream of the SaferProducts.gov information through a developer API. And then, we’re going to challenge software developers to become innovative with the information. Create mobile apps. Devise scanners that help people find and use SaferProducts.gov information from their phones. Build search tools so that when people search on the Web, they see SaferProducts.gov reports along with product reviews.
We hope you bookmark SaferProducts.gov, use the information to make your home and family safer, and tell your friends about the site, too.
