Underreporting defects is risky

Article Abstract:

Failure to comply with the Consumer Product Safety Act's Section 15 requirements that 'substantial product hazards be reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) can mean large criminal and civil penalties, and due to these companies should always err in the direction of reporting. Some courts even feel there is a private right of action for noncompliance with the Section 15 requirements. Underreporting is thought to be widespread, and many fears companies have about reporting are unwarranted. Reports to the CPSC are confidential and are not an admission that a product is defective.

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Under its amnesty program, the Consumer Product Safety Commission will waive penalties for firms that disclose previously unreported product hazards

Article Abstract:

A special program, offering amnesty to consumer products manufacturers that reveal past compliance failures or start corrective action, will end Feb 13, 1996. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the program in Aug 1995 to reduce the level of non-compliance due to fear of penalties, but so far the amnesty program has seen little use. A waiver of official product hazard determination, offered to manufacturers that begin a corrective action program within 20 days of reporting a potential problem, is more popular.

All Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing, Manufacturing industries, not elsewhere classified, Manufacturing Industries NEC, Manufacturing industry, Manufacturing industries, Services

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The current federal product-safety requirements for reporting potentially dangerous products have caused confusion among the nation's manufacturers

Article Abstract:

Congress should amend the statutes covering product safety, the Consumer Product Safety Act, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Medical Device Amendment of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in view of their subjectivity and the widespread problem of underreporting. Objective criteria should become the basis for a reporting definition. A provision exempting safety reports from use in all private products liability actions would also induce more reporting.

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