ABSTRACT
In addition to promoting safety and healthy work practices in the occupational environment, the €eld of ergonomics is equally concerned with promoting consumer product safety through safe product design and use (Wilson and Kirk, 1980). During the past several decades, there has been an increasing concern for public safety in the United States in terms of consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent federal regulatory agency, established by the Act of October 27, 1972 (86 Stat. 1207), has the mission to ensure the safety of consumer products manufactured, distributed, and marketed in the American industry. The commission has primary responsibility for establishing mandatory productsafety standards in order to reduce unreasonable risk of injury to consumers from consumer products. It also has the authority to ban hazardous consumer products. The responsibilities are de€ned as follows:
Additionally, the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq. [1972]) authorizes the commission to conduct extensive research on consumer product standards, to engage in broad consumer, industry information, and education programs, and to establish a comprehensive injury-information clearinghouse (CPSC website,
2011). This responsibility is increasingly more challenging with the globalization of product development and manufacturing.
