AHAM's Blog

AHAM Members and Staff Speak at ICPHSO Annual Meeting in Seoul, South Korea.

The International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) met in Seoul, South Korea for its annual meeting last week.  It was the largest attendance at the international meeting since the group was formed, with attendees from 18 countries on six continents. 

Some of the topics discussed included:

• Overview of Regulatory Systems
• Approaches to Standards and Conformity and Harmonization
• Trends in Public Safety
• Compliance with Global Product Safety Standards

Two companies gave keynote addresses this year, and both of them are members of AHAM:  LGE and Samsung.  Dr. Jongmin Shin, Vice President of Quality Division from LG, stressed the partnership between government and manufacturers on safety.  Mr. Kyungju Lee, Sr. Vice President of Samsung, talked about the intersection of quality and safety in today’s manufacturing companies.  In addition, Dr. Hyesoon Yang, of Samsung, participated in a panel discussion on managing the multiplicity of standards and regulations for global companies.  Additionally, AHAM’s Wayne Morris, Vice President of Technical Operations and Standards, who also serves on the ICPHSO Executive Board, spoke on the future direction of standards harmonization and arranged three panel discussions within the Electrical Sector program.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman Inez Tenenbaum attended, along with the head of the Korean National Testing Lab and Korean Consumer Agency.   ICPHSO will meet Feb 28-March 2, 2012 in Orlando.

CPSC Acts on Hair Dryer Safety

AHAM commends the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for taking action on June 2, using its new authority, to ensure that all hair dryers are safe by containing integral immersion protection to prevent electrocution if the product is dropped into the sink or bath.

AHAM members helped develop and have complied for many years with a voluntary safety standard requiring this protection and we supported the CPSC action to deem any product that doesn't use immersion protection as a “substantial product hazard.”

Noncompliant products, if destined for import into the United States, may be stopped at foreign or US ports before they even enter the US stream of commerce.  The rule that was finalized by CPSC makes transparent a position that CPSC has had for many years, but now formalizes the process whereby stakeholders may comment through a rulemaking process.  Additionally, under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, CPSC was provided funding for the policing of ports and products, adding teeth to the enforcement of this new law.  AHAM supported the CPSC’s desire to formalize the process under Section 15J, and added substantial technical support to this specific hair dryer rule.  AHAM encourages the CPSC to continue to use this process in a focused and judicious manner.