CPSC Fines COSCO And Safety First For Failure To Report Defects
Two subsidiaries of Dorel Industries, Inc. have agreed to pay a total of $1.75 million dollars in fines to settle charges that the companies withheld safety information regarding six (6) of their products according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found that Cosco and Safety First, the Dorel subsidiaries, failed to comply with a statutory requirement to report any information to the CPSC that reasonably suggests a product presents a substantial or unreasonable risk of injury.
Cosco's products include cribs, strollers, car seat carriers and high chairs. The CPSC found that Cosco failed to report incidents of crib entrapment attributable to both cribs and mattresses manufactured by it. According to the CPSC, Cosco received 25 reports of crib entrapment for its full sized metal cribs, including one fatality, and 11 reports of crib entrapment caused by compression of its crib mattresses, including one fatality.
The CPSC also found that Cosco received 3,000 complaints of lock failures in its two-way tandem strollers, resulting in 200 injuries. Cosco also obtained injury reports involving the failure of its car seat carrier handles and injury reports from seat separation in its high chairs. Although Cosco apparently made a designer labeling change in response to the reports, it failed to inform the agency of the risk of the injury associated with the products, according to the CPSC.
The Safety First share of the fine was paid to settle claims that it knowingly withheld information about defects in its walkers and wipe warmers. The CPSC claimed that Safety First's Mobile 4-Wheelin' Walker created a risk because children could get their teeth caught on the walker's steering wheel. The CPSC says that Safety First had received five reports of children's teeth being pulled out when caught on the wheel before the company reported the problem to the CPSC. The CPSC also claimed that Safety First recalled its wipe warmers without informing the agency. Safety First recalled the wipe warmers because the units could crack, creating a risk of electric shock. Again, the CPSC reports that Safety First modified the product designs but did not inform CPSC of the associated risks.
