Intertek

Intertek Joins Retail Led Consumer Product Safety Effort

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced today that Intertek, a leading international provider of quality and safety solutions, has joined RILA and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) as a sponsor in the creation and implementation of a meaningful global manufacturing standard for consumer goods. This retail industry led standard will enhance the safety of products worldwide.

RILA members embrace their role as leaders in the product safety arena. Earlier this year RILA and the BRC forged a partnership to develop a global product safety standard in North America. BRC/RILA standard will help retailers comply with the new regulations by establishing a meaningful, achievable and certifiable worldwide measure by which manufacturing operations are set. The BRC/RILA standard will be a truly global product safety standard.

Intertek will join RILA and the BRC as third party auditor and one of three select non-voting members of the RILA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). With participation from many of America's leading retailers, TAC is responsible for guiding the development of these standards.

"Our progress thus far has been tremendous, and we are delighted to welcome Intertek to this important effort," said Jim Neill, vice president of product safety. "Intertek's proven success in assessing risk and ensuring the safety of products in a manner that is effective and efficient adds a strong new champion to our efforts and we look forward to working with them to reach our product safety goals."

Gene Rider, Vice President Global Retail Leader and President of Intertek Consumer Goods North America adds, "Intertek is proud to contribute to global public policy efforts in support of consumer product safety. We are happy to offer our expertise in the areas of testing, inspection, certification and quality assurance to RILA, their membership and the BRC."

The target date for release of the new standard (North American version) is October 2009, with implementation of the new standards anticipated by Spring 2010.

BRC/RILA Partnership
The BRC has developed global standards that have gained support from European retailers. Standards have been developed for food, packaging, storage and distribution, and consumer products.
RILA in partnership with the BRC, are adopting the consumer products standards in North America, making them truly global to enhance the safety of products worldwide. RILA's vision is to proactively protect consumers and retail brands by partnering with suppliers to adopt and implement these industry-wide, global safety standards, while advocating effective legislation and regulatory compliance.
RILA and the BRC are working to enhance an already established international network of approved certification bodies and a proven process to deliver third party certification through global supply chains. As a certification body, sponsor and a TAC member, Intertek will provide input into the guidelines and implementation schedule for the role out of the product category guidelines.

About RILA
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) promotes consumer choice and economic freedom through public policy and industry operational excellence. RILA members include the largest and most successful companies in the retail industry. RILA provides its members with unique educational forums, effective public policy advocacy, and advancement of the retail industry.

About Intertek
Intertek (ITRK.L) is a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world. From auditing and inspection, to testing, quality assurance and certification, Intertek people are dedicated to adding value to customers' products and processes, supporting their success in the global marketplace. Intertek has the expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 23,000 people in 110 countries around the world.

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Intertek and the American Apparel and Footwear Association Petition U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for Sensible Testing Practices

Intertek and the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) jointly submitted a petition today to formally request the CPSC to expressly approve certain lab testing procedures to determine the presence of lead paint on toys and other children's products--methods the two groups believe will save manufacturers millions of dollars without any loss of test reliability.

Since the enactment of the landmark Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, some assert that the law only allows testing labs like Intertek to test final, finished products to mandatory safety standards, including the ban on lead paint. Because some products may have only a small area of paint (like the fingernails on a doll or painted buttons on a child's garment), this interpretation requires the destruction of an unnecessarily large number of product samples, since the paint must be scraped from the samples, rendering them unusable. These samples--sometimes several hundred per product--are then discarded. This represents a huge cost to manufacturers, especially crafters and other small businesses, which discourages companies from testing and needlessly impacts the environment with discarded samples.

To solve this dilemma, Intertek and AAFA have today asked the CPSC to formally recognize, as acceptable under the CPSIA, certain test methods to detect lead in paint and other surface coatings--procedures that result in the destruction of far fewer samples but with the same or better reliability of those tests. Specifically, the two groups have requested the agency recognize the acceptability of "spray sampling" (painting an entire product with the same color paint, giving lab workers more surface coating to test), "multiple stamping" (stamping products repeatedly with the same paint or ink appliqué to garner a larger sample) and "finished component testing," allowing painted buttons, for example, to be tested before they are sewn onto a garment rather than destroying the finished garment during testing.
"Intertek is continually striving to find cost-saving, pro-safety solutions for our customers and partners, like the AAFA," said Gene Rider, President of Intertek Consumer Goods, North America. "What we are today proposing to the CPSC represents a win-win-win: saving our customers money and time, preventing the wasteful destruction of finished products, and at the same time enhancing the reliability of testing and the safety of children's toys, garments and other items."

Under its regulations, the CPSC has a "reasonable time" to act on this Petition, and the Petitioners have also requested a public hearing to discuss these proposals. The text of the Petition to the CPSC is at: http://www.intertek-labtest.com/brochures/intertek_aafa_petition

About Intertek
Intertek (ITRK.L) is a leading provider of quality and safety solutions serving a wide range of industries around the world. From auditing and inspection, to testing, quality assurance and certification, Intertek people are dedicated to adding value to customers' products and processes, supporting their success in the global marketplace. Intertek has the expertise, resources and global reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices and over 23,000 people in 110 countries around the world.

For more information, visit www.intertek.com/consumergoods

Britax

Technology Update: Anti-Rebound Bar

Rebound is a force that doesn’t receive much attention as a subtopic of child passenger safety. As technicians, we know that every force has an equal and opposite reaction. Rebound, in the context of vehicle safety, is the equal and opposite reaction to an initial frontal impact experienced in a vehicle crash. The CPS curriculum defines it as the “reactive motion in the opposite direction after initial impact has occurred.”

To better understand the benefits of a rebound-limiting device, think about the events of a typical frontal and rear impact crash without a rebound-limiting device.
In a frontal collision, a CR continues to move forward, using the stretching of the belt webbing, and down through the compression of the vehicle seat cushion. After the initial impact, the CR “wants” to move back to its original state, but due to the elongation and compression previously mentioned, the CR dramatically overshoots its original position and comes into contact with the vehicle seat back. As a result, the child’s head often comes into contact with vehicle seat or other parts of the vehicle, such as the “C” pillar, mirrors or video screens.

With a rear-facing convertible CR, several manufacturers manage rebound energy via the use of a rear-facing tether. This tether limits the amount of travel the seat is allowed to make once past its original position. In the infant carrier category rebound is being (and has been) addressed with a feature appropriately named an Anti-rebound bar. This component is affixed to the in-car base of the infant carrier and limits the movement described above by forming a rigid “L” shape with the base bottom pressed against the bottom and back seat cushions of the vehicle. The reduction in child restraint movement then allows the harness in the restraint to perform its designed function and also keeps the child’s head from contacting the back of the vehicle seat and/or other items previously mentioned.

In a rear impact collision, the CR will attempt to rotate toward the rear of the vehicle, which is towards the point of impact. The same impact risks occur as described in a frontal rebound. The rebound of a rear crash event will cause the seat to move back to its original position similar to the initial impact of a frontal crash.

In the case of a rear impact the CR will attempt to rotate toward the rear of the vehicle towards the point of impact, but the rear facing tether (in a convertible CR) or the anti-rebound bar (in an infant carrier) will significantly reduce the distance it will be able to rotate toward the vehicle seat back during the crash event. Again, this reduction in motion allows the harness in the restraint to perform its designed function, while keeping the child’s head from contacting the back of the vehicle seat.

On infant carriers, an anti-rebound bar has been used on the Britax Companion® Infant Carrier and is currently used on the Britax Chaperone® Infant Carrier, Safe-n-Sound™ Unity Infant Carrier in Australia and the Britax Baby Safe in Europe (all companies are part of the Britax Childcare Group, Ltd).

The Chaperone infant carrier and stroller come in four fashions. The Chaperone infant carrier (SRP: $229.99) will be available in independent and mass retailers in June 2009; the stroller (SRP: $299.99) starting in August 2009. A single adapter strap will be available to allow the Chaperone stroller to be used with other major manufacturer’s infant carriers. The strap will also allow the Chaperone infant carrier to be used in other major manufacturer’s strollers.

Submitted by: Sarah Tilton, CPS Advocate, Britax Child Safety (Charlotte, N.C.)

JPMA

Lifespan of Durable Juvenile Products

Cribs Built to Last

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) actively promotes the safe use and selection of juvenile products and wants to remind parents and caregivers that durable products such as cribs are intended to last for years (or multiple births) when properly cared for.

The safest sleep environment for a child is in a crib. Before placing a child to sleep in a crib, it is important to understand the proper use, assembly and reassembly of the crib and how to provide the safest sleep environment for a child.

All new cribs on the market today meet minimum government requirements. When you assemble a crib to the manufacturer's instructions and use it properly, a crib provides a safe and comfortable environment for baby. For added assurance that the crib you purchase was built with safety in mind, look for the JPMA Certification Seal and know that crib went through an extra set of rigorous testing.

Crib manufacturers today go through great lengths to ensure instructions are easy to read and understand. In fact, most instructions include information on assembly, maintenance, cleaning, storage and use.

JPMA suggests the following safety tips to sustain the proper lifespan of a crib:

• Infants should ALWAYS sleep in a crib, which meets current Federal and ASTM standards.


• Make sure there are no missing, loose, broken, or improperly installed screws, brackets or other hardware on the crib or the mattress support. Helpful tip: Crib assembly is best completed before the baby arrives to ensure there are no missing parts and the crib is in working order.


• Read and follow all instructions and warnings provided with the crib. If the instructions are not clear or parts are missing, call the manufacturer or retailer. Under no circumstances should substitute or makeshift hardware be used.


• When disassembling crib for storage, retain all the parts and instructions. Helpful tip: store parts and instructions in a Ziploc® bag and tape to the bottom of the crib.
  When reassembling crib, be sure you have all the parts.
  Do not substitute hardware.


• Always send in the product registration card that comes with every new crib (most crib manufacturers offer this service online as well). By returning the card, you ensure you'll be notified if your crib is recalled.


• Check your crib often for missing hardware, loose screws or anything out of the ordinary. Helpful tip: Make it part of the routine to inspect the crib every time you change the sheet.

JPMA is pleased to note that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recognizes the importance of urging parents and caregivers to closely inspect the hardware and stability of their cribs to ensure all parts are in place and secure when assembling and re-assembling cribs.

Voluntary recalls to replace missing parts for secondhand or second use cribs highlight the importance of proper assembly and use of cribs. Many older cribs do not meet all current safety standards. Even if you are on a tight budget, you should not purchase an old crib at a garage sale or accept a hand-me-down that does not meet current Federal and ASTM standards.

The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association is a national trade organization of more than 250 companies in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. JPMA exists to advance the interests, growth, and well-being of North American prenatal to preschool product manufacturers, importers, and distributors marketing under their own brands to consumers. It does so through advocacy, public relations, information sharing, product performance certification, and business development assistance conducted with appreciation for the needs of parents, children, and retailers.

For tips on how to keep baby safe, including a list of JPMA Certified cribs, please visit www.jpma.org.