TY - JOUR
T1 - Navigating child product safety
T2 - Perspectives from experts on international challenges and priorities in regulation and research
AU - Niven, Catherine
AU - Vuong, Kim A.
AU - Nottage, Luke
AU - Harrison, James E.
AU - Möller, Holger
AU - Catchpoole, Jesani
AU - Ivers, Rebecca
AU - Vallmuur, Kirsten
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Objective: To elicit and summarise collective expert opinion on contemporary child product safety risks, challenges and priorities. Methods: An online survey targeted international experts from a cross-section of product safety fields. Results: Fifty-five experts participated, representing 1,137 years of product safety experience, from a broad range of fields including industry risk management, product assessment and testing, policy and regulation, research, paediatric medicine, advocacy and product liability. Participants identified the leading product safety hazards across all age brackets as falls, drowning and chemical hazards, with variance in specific age brackets, particularly the threat to breathing hazards for infants. The leading products of concern to experts were electrical connection/distribution products, primarily button batteries and lithium-ion batteries, infant furnishing products and household furniture. Product safety priorities and challenges were identified under five themes: regulatory, surveillance, industry, consumer and product-specific. Conclusions: The gains in knowledge, insight and understanding from experts on contemporary child product safety risks and issues should inform policy and future research. Implications for Public Health: There are significant consequences of unsafe consumer products on population health, and the results are timely as we face new product safety issues emerging from e-commerce, the digital transition and innovative product technologies.
AB - Objective: To elicit and summarise collective expert opinion on contemporary child product safety risks, challenges and priorities. Methods: An online survey targeted international experts from a cross-section of product safety fields. Results: Fifty-five experts participated, representing 1,137 years of product safety experience, from a broad range of fields including industry risk management, product assessment and testing, policy and regulation, research, paediatric medicine, advocacy and product liability. Participants identified the leading product safety hazards across all age brackets as falls, drowning and chemical hazards, with variance in specific age brackets, particularly the threat to breathing hazards for infants. The leading products of concern to experts were electrical connection/distribution products, primarily button batteries and lithium-ion batteries, infant furnishing products and household furniture. Product safety priorities and challenges were identified under five themes: regulatory, surveillance, industry, consumer and product-specific. Conclusions: The gains in knowledge, insight and understanding from experts on contemporary child product safety risks and issues should inform policy and future research. Implications for Public Health: There are significant consequences of unsafe consumer products on population health, and the results are timely as we face new product safety issues emerging from e-commerce, the digital transition and innovative product technologies.
KW - child safety
KW - consumer policy
KW - injury prevention
KW - product safety
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177216263&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://purl.org/au-research/grants/ARC/DP170103136
U2 - 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100103
DO - 10.1016/j.anzjph.2023.100103
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85177216263
SN - 1326-0200
VL - 47
JO - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
JF - Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
IS - 6
M1 - 100103
ER -