CPSC Staff Identifies Two Ways Emerging Technology Can Appear

CPSC needs to watch for two types of emerging technology, according to the staff report on such products. They are those with "long, public development" and those that "seemingly appear overnight." The agency may need to develop some "new skill sets," especially adding staff with expertise in evaluating software engineering. Additionally, it should be ready to direct some concerns, like data privacy or medical uses, to agencies with such jurisdictions.

The report references an effort – the Alliance Program – at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration as a potential model. That project brings stakeholders and other experts together with and aim of better predicting risks in the workplace from technological developments.

The report (bit.ly/2m2cNFl) identified four trends deemed likely to influence consumer product development: smart technology and the Internet of Things; the aging population and multi-generational households; Big Data; and e-commerce and direct-to-consumer selling.

The authors raised six topics identified as "among the concerns," so they shouldn't be taken as exhaustive. Most mirror long standing CPSC worries:

• Loss of Safety Function: Interconnection of products can lead to protective elements failing or being turned off.

 

• Fire and Burns: Batteries and new materials are the focus although the report notes that there also could be opportunities for benefits, not just worry about risks.

 

• Electric Shock: The concern is products that use voltages above 30 Vac or 60 Vdc.

 

• Chemicals: Irritating or toxic compounds could pose both acute and chronic risks; the report notes "novel textiles."

 

• Physical Injuries: Increases in potential and kinetic energy as well as in speeds raise concerns about injuries like lacerations, contusions, amputations, and more.

 

• Choking: Wearable technology and small devices raise worries that include strangulation and asphyxiation.

Different risks might be linked to issues like loss of connectivity and poor data integrity. The authors explain, "As the data acquisition, data processing, interconnection, and integration of more consumer products continue, consumers may be exposed to new hazard categories."

The report identifies 10 areas of technological development currently on CPSC's watch list, and it details related concerns. They are 3D printers and printed items; smart technologies, software as component parts, wearable devices, new materials including nanotech, virtual- and augmented reality, personal transports, high energy storage/ generation, robotics, and brain interface.

The assessment stems from a directive a year ago (PSL, 2/29/16) by then-Chairman Elliot Kaye, who sought insight into the ways new technologies appear. At the time, he asserted that products should not be "just dumped on the market," alluding to the recent problems involving hoverboards. Emerging technology also was a focus of a trilateral summit in Beijing last summer among China, the EU, and U.S. The stated goal was to speed information sharing (PSL, 6/27/16).