Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008

Risks remain after recalls

Sometimes not enough is done beyond an alert to ensure consumers and retailers are aware of dangers

When Christy Bykowski learned in June that her infant’s crib had been recalled for a strangulation hazard, she applied for a manufacturer’s voucher that would allow her to swap the defective product for a new one. One month later, she hadn’t received the voucher, so in the meantime she paid $350 for a new crib herself.

“I felt completely backed into a corner. When there’s something so vital as the life of a child, it shouldn’t take months,” said the Cleveland resident, whose son slept in the defective crib for two weeks after the recall. She eventually got a refund from the retailer, Babies “R” Us, to compensate her for some of the cost of the pricier new crib.

Bykowski’s frustration underscores an ongoing problem with the U.S. recall process: The recall itself is touted as a powerful tool of regulators for keeping consumers safe, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission points to the growing number of recalls as an indication that the system is working to protect consumers. But sometimes, not enough is done beyond the announcement to ensure that consumers and all retailers know about the recall.

The CPSC is charged with ensuring that about 15,000 products in the U.S. marketplace today are safe to use. Yet, when a product is cited as a hazard, it is mainly up to the consumer to learn about the recall and take action. Unlike Bykowski, few consumers do.

On average, just 15 percent to 30 percent of consumers who have bought a defective product respond when the item is recalled, says the CPSC.

Responses can rise to about 60 percent for higher-profile recalls that include some children’s products or home appliances.

But often more than two-thirds of recalled products go unaccounted for, leaving children and adults vulnerable to injuries ranging from lead poisoning caused by mouthing certain toys to burns from overheated fax machines.

That is because the notification, which relies in part on press releases that may or may not be picked up by the media, is often lax or low-tech. And many consumers simply don’t want to deal with the paperwork or the hassle of mailing something back, especially large items, like a crib, which has to be disassembled. Of course many consumers may never learn of the recall because they got the item used.

SYSTEM ‘DOESN’T WORK’

“The recall system just doesn’t work,” said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids in Danger, a child-safety advocacy group. “The very concept is backwards.” She cited the need to improve the safety of products before they reach store shelves.

A bill signed by President Bush last week aims to do that by imposing stricter standards for items ranging from toys to all-terrain vehicles. The bill now makes it unlawful for retailers to sell recalled products and requires manufacturers to stamp children’s products with tracking information — the manufacture location, date of production and batch number — to make recalled items easier to identify.

Recall-registration cards will be included in the packaging of many items, such as bassinets, cribs and other nursery products, so consumers can be contacted directly if a product is deemed hazardous.

Still, the changes will only gradually take effect as the CPSC and companies determine how to implement them. Companies would have a full year to apply tracking labels, for example. In the meantime, the number of product recalls is expected to continue to surge. Recalls are already 22 percent higher for the nine months ended June 30 than the same period a year earlier, rising to 415 from the previous 339.

VOLUNTARY STANDARDS

Often, unsafe products reach the market because many manufacturing standards are only voluntary — and only some consumer products are required to be tested before they’re sent to stores. Even products that meet the standards can end up being recalled for defects, many of which are discovered only after consumers have reported injuries or deaths caused by the products.

In a recall, the CPSC and manufacturers negotiate the language that will be used in news releases, which are distributed to but not necessarily published by media outlets. Advertising the recall to ensure publication is optional.

KEEPING TRACK OF DEFECTS

Still, it is nearly impossible to stay abreast of all the recalls on consumer products used in the home and elsewhere. Cowles, of Kids In Danger, said the son of the group’s founders died in a defective portable crib at a child-care provider’s home five years after the product had been recalled.

“Almost everyone probably has something in their home or at some point has had something in their home that has ultimately been recalled,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.

The CPSC can reannounce a recall if it feels previous efforts did not reach a critical mass of consumers. It did this six years ago with 3,000 Remington hair dryers that lacked a mechanism to shut off automatically if dropped in water.

Edward Heiden, a product-recall consultant, said he was hired to help with the second outreach effort of a garden-wheelbarrow recall after the first one got minimal response. One reason: Less than half of the thousands of warning fliers sent to retailers’ headquarters made it to individual stores, he said. When Heiden suggested that the manufacturer warn each store directly that tire rims could break apart and cause lacerations, the number of recall respondents doubled, he said.

RETAILERS SEEK INCLUSION

The National Retail Federation, a trade group for more than 2,000 U.S. retailers, complains it isn’t consulted during the recall process. Inclusion could help, said Jonathan Gold, a vice president of the organization who notes that manufacturers sometimes issue vouchers that can’t be coded into a retailer’s system.

Several larger retailers say they’re dedicating more staff to handle safety issues, and have programmed cash registers to reject recalled products that mistakenly remain on shelves.

Retailers are increasingly reaching out to consumers directly by e-mail or phone. Toys “R” Us, the owner of Babies “R” Us, last year implemented a “no quibble” policy that states the retailer takes back any recalled product it has carried whether it was bought through the retailer or not.