As a new school year gets underway, President Obama launched a major back-to-school campaign today aimed at keeping kids in the classroom. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) new Chairman Inez Tenenbaum carried the President’s message to South Carolina where she met with students and faculty at Rosewood Elementary School in Columbia.
Tenenbaum, a former South Carolina State Superintendent of Education, brings a strong focus to CPSC on educating and informing children and consumers across the nation about product safety. She released CPSC’s “Back to School Safety Checklist” and urged parents and schools to use it to create a safer school environment for children.
“It just takes a moment for a child to be seriously injured or even killed riding a bicycle, playing on the playground, using a movable soccer goal, wearing a jacket with a drawstring or by a recalled product,” said Tenenbaum. “Let’s keep kids in the classroom and out of the emergency room. Parents and school officials should make it a priority to check for hazards at home and at school.”
CPSC’s “Back to School Safety Checklist”
Playgrounds
Bicycle Helmets
Drawstrings
* None of my child’s outerwear clothing has drawstrings at the hood or neck area. Since 1985, CPSC has received reports of 28 deaths and 71 non-fatal incidents involving the entanglement of children’s clothing drawstrings.
Movable Soccer Goals
Recalled Products
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC’s work to ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals – contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.
To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC’s Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC’s teletypewriter at (800) 638-8270. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC’s Web site at www.cpsc.gov.
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908
SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission