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CPSC Poised to Implement Online Product Hazard Database

By Victor E. Schwartz and Cary Silverman

Manufacturers have become accustomed to “reviews” of their products online. Whether on Web sites such as Amazon.com or retailer sites such as BestBuy.com, consumers scroll through comments on everything from the quality of the product to the level of customer service. They also take such reviews with a grain of salt. The reviews are usually anonymous and the motives of the poster unknown. Was it truly a stellar product or is the poster someone who would gain from increased sales? Was there a real problem with the product or did it break due to misuse? Was the customer genuinely dissatisfied or is the poster a disgruntled former employee or a competitor seeking to bring down the company?

Now, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is posed to unveil its own online reporting system and public database of actual and potential product hazards. However, unlike private retailer Web sites with reviews, the public places a great deal of reliance on information disseminated by the CPSC, particularly with respect to product defects and recalls. A case in point is the massive crib recall, which has led millions of parents and caregivers to seek a replacement for the popular drop-side design. When the CPSC speaks, people listen. And this official government database will provide the public with particularly serious information: whether a product caused or poses a risk of injury or death.

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