The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced its product safety priorities for 2018, including a focus on online shopping and furniture safety.
Speaking at the National Consumer Congress in Sydney, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said the commission receives 10,600 product safety reports each year.
“Each year we monitor about 630 active voluntary recalls, and undertake surveillance to check compliance with about 20 of the 66 safety standards and bans we administer,” he says.
“In developing our product safety priorities each year, our work begins with an analysis of data on product injuries and deaths.”
This year the ACCC will target nine critical safety issues facing Australian consumers, including improving the safety of products purchased online, with unsafe products easily falling through the cracks.
It will also work with state and territory consumer agencies to improve the safety of toppling furniture. About 50 children are in hospital each week due to furniture falling on them and there have been deaths following these accidents.
The remaining seven priorities are the compulsory recall of vehicles with Takata airbags; improving the safety of quad bikes; improving return rates for the Infinity electrical cables recall, which was announced in 2013; reducing the risk from button batteries; and reviewing compulsory safety standards and bans to make sure they’re working and checking whether businesses are complying.
The ACCC is also advocating for the introduction of a general safety provision into Australian consumer law.
“Most consumers are surprised to learn that it is not illegal to sell unsafe products in Australia. Indeed they purchase products with the expectation that they are safe,” says Sims.
“Consumers put their trust in suppliers and known brand names as we are generally not in a position to assess hidden safety hazards at the point of sale ourselves.”
Sims says current product safety laws usually only come into play after a problem has occurred and that Australia lags behind the UK, EU, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Brazil when it comes to product safety.
“It’s time we catch up with them and provide Australians with a reason to have greater confidence in the safety of the goods they purchase,” he says.
“Like doctors, we believe that prevention is better than cure. We want to ensure that the goods and goods related services supplied in Australia are safe from the outset, and stop injuries and illnesses occurring in the first place.”
By Ruth Cooper
