CPSC's Unilateral Announcement Targets Baby Rescue Bags

CPSC May 20 used its power to make unilateral safety announcements with infant rescue bags. The agency warned that Babyrescue bags can detach from their lines while being lowered from upper floors during emergencies. There are no known incidents.

CPSC explained (bit.ly/3PyArnK) that he company, Safety International, agreed to stop selling the products but has not agreed to recall them. The agency urged consumer to throw them out.

The bags sold from sometime in 2010 until December 2021 for about $120.

Once a rarity, unilateral product warnings from CPSC, while still not common, could be categorized as occasional. Recent ones involved Leacho infant loungers (PSL, 1/24/22) Peloton exercise bikes (PSL, 4/26/21), New High-Tech hoverboards (PSL, 2/17/20), Summer Infant sleepers (PSL, 1/20/20), and Hodedah dressers (PSL, 1/13/20).

CPSC also can pursue administrative lawsuits to force recalls, a tack it took with Leachco as well as with Thyssenkrupp Access (residential elevators) and Amazon (CO detectors, children's sleepwear, and hairdryers). All three cases are ongoing.

Unilateral announcements also are part of a trend that agency staff earlier this year called "Faster CPSC" (PSL, 2/21/22).

Another "Faster CPSC" development in recent weeks is that the time between announcements and occurrences of briefings has condensed. The notice for the May 12 midyear review went up May 5. The notice for the upcoming May 25 briefing on off-highway vehicles went up May 18.