Law of the Land for Consumer Product Safety Pamela Fuselli Executive Director, Safe Kids Canada.

Law of the Land for Consumer Product SafetyPamela Fuselli

Executive Director, Safe Kids Canada

Injuries in Canada

Annual economic injury burden places on Canadians, our health care system and Canadian society overall:– A minimum of $19.8 billion in total

economic costs.– Economic burden of injury among

children in Canada is estimated at $4 billion.

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Child and Youth Injury in Canada

• Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death among Canadian children and youth (1 to 19 years of age)

• In 2005, 720 young Canadians (19 years and younger) died as a result of injuries: a reduction of just over 40% since 1990, due primarily to the decline in motor vehicle traffic collision deaths.

• In 2005/06, there were 29,142 hospitalizations for treatment of injuries (19 years and younger): a reduction of almost 40% since 1994/95.

Child and Youth Injury in Canada

• Between 1990 and 2007 more than 1.6 million injuries were treated in the emergency departments of the 16 hospitals participating in CHIRPP (ages 19 years and younger).

• In recent years, almost half of these emergency department visits involved consumer products, including toys, magnets, furniture, window coverings etc.

Product Related Injuries to Children & Youth

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Age Group Direct Cause (%)b Contributing Factor (%)c

0-4 years 62.8 33.4

5-9 years 53.3 36.9

10-14 years 54.4 33.7

15-19 years 61.2 28.3

Total 58.0 33.9

Table 5.Proportion of product-related cases where the direct cause or the contributing factor was a consumer producta by age group, CHIRPP, 0-19 years, both sexes combined, 1990-2007

a) CHIRPP allows coding of multiple factors (contributing and direct); the calculations in this table use only the two main factor codes, and thus rows will not sum to 100%.

b) The product is the immediate cause of the injury (e.g. struck head on table).c) The product is significantly involved in the injury event sequence (e.g. fell off bed and struck head on floor). In

this example, the direct cause (the floor) is not a consumer product).


• From 1997 onward, the proportion of consumer product-related injuries has remained about 46%.

• Of all the cases involving a consumer product in children under 5 years, the product was a direct cause of injury in nearly two-thirds of cases, and a contributing factor in one-third.


The 3 most frequent product categories as a direct cause of injury, from 0 to 4 years, are:

– tables (17.6%), – other furniture items (15.3%) * all furniture excluding tables

and beds, and – toys (7.1%).

Dangerous Products for Children & Youth

• Between 1990 and 2007, there were 5,403 cases of injuries associated with bunk beds.

• Between 1993 and 2007 there were 328 cases of children aged 13 years or younger who sustained an injury associated with magnets. Just over half of these incidents involved ingestion of a magnet. About 60% of the magnets were associated with a toy and about one-quarter involved jewelry.


• Between 1990 and 2007 there were 2,192 baby walker related injuries among children aged 5-14 months, accounting for 2.6% of all injury events among this age group

• Magnets, bunk beds, trampolines and other furniture are all items that were not regulated under the Hazardous Products Act.


Recalls on child products significantly increased over the years, from 28 voluntary recalls in 2006 to 118 in 2008, this constitutes a 235 percent increase over 3 years.


• Survey results show that the vast majority of Canadians believe that if a product is available for sale on the market, it is safe and has been adequately tested for safety.

• The CCPSA was needed to be consistent with societal and consumer expectations for the health and safety of Canadians and ensure the reporting of serious incidents and defects, leading or potentially leading to illnesses, injuries and deaths.

Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act

• DUMPING GROUND: • Canada risked becoming a haven for unsafe products rejected by the

American and European markets. • More and more products are now available on the market and these

may be difficult to classify and monitor. • Sub-standard products, such as recalled toys, could have appeared

on the market from overseas.

Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act

• In 2008, Health Canada recalled 7,000 toy guns and 35,000 packages of charms manufactured in China that were sold in dollar stores nationwide. Health Canada was unaware of the harmful products until the Toronto Star did its own testing. In response, the Government recalled millions of items that were found to contain high levels of lead, including a scrapbook charm so full of lead that Health Canada determined a child could die from swallowing the penny-sized bauble.

Canada Consumer Product Safety Act

• The Hazardous Product Act limited Health Canada to issuing public

warnings about the dangers of a particular product and trying to

persuade a manufacturer to take corrective actions.

• The Consumer Product Safety Act introduced a general prohibition

on dangerous consumer products, mandatory reporting

requirements, and mandatory recall powers to the Government.


• Prohibiting the manufacture, importation, advertisement or sale of consumer products that pose an unreasonable danger to children and human health.

• Mandatory recall powers for the government to remove unsafe consumer products from the market.

• The requirement of suppliers to provide test results and safety reports to Health Canada regarding any serious injuries or illnesses resulting from the use of their products.

• Offence related to false packaging or deceptive labeling of unsafe products.

Continuing Issues

• Parents hear information via Canadian media from the US and believe

that the details are the same for products in Canada• Not all the same products are available in both countries• Recalls in the US may not be made in Canada

• Ability to cross-border shop or order items from the web

• Increase access to products; not limited to individual countries

Continuing Issues

• Timely information into parent’s hands

• Levels of hazards and risks of alternate actions

• Identify trends quickly

Anticipated Outcome – Better Results

We anticipate even better childhood injury

results as the impact of the


is enforced and results measured.

Pamela Fuselli

Executive Director

Safe Kids Canada/SecuriJeunes Canada

T. 416-813-7602

[email protected]

safekidscanada.ca/securijeunescanada.ca

Law of the Land for Consumer Product Safety Pamela Fuselli Executive Director, Safe Kids Canada.

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