Kitchen appliances make our lives more convenient and our meals more delicious, but they’re also dangerous. Dangerous? Ordinary appliances start tens of thousands of fires in United States homes every year. Our colleagues down the hall at ShopSmart rounded up some common causes of appliance fires and warned us all. [More]
safety
Study: Tipping TVs Putting Thousands Of Kids In The Hospital Every Year
By 7.22.13
Whether you’ve still got an older box TV or a flat panel mounted on a wall, a new study says falling televisions present a very real danger to young kids. Thousands of injuries resulting from tippy TVs have been reported every year, say researchers, and the numbers coming out of emergency rooms related to tipping TVs are only going up. [More]
June Food And Drug Recall Roundup – Sulfites, Plastic Fragments, And Salmonella
By 6.18.13
Our monthly Recall Roundups have grown so expansive that we’ve had to separate them into two separate roundups: one for consumer goods, and one for consumables. In this edition of the Food and Drug roundup, dangers lurk everywhere, from coconut candy bars to sugary cereals. [More]
Painting Your Own Crosswalk Is Probably Not A Good Idea
By 6.3.13
If you feel the intersection by your house is dangerous for pedestrians, you may want to take your case to the authorities, or get the story out there to the local media. What you don’t want to do is take matters into your own hands and paint a crosswalk by yourself… because you’ll probably get in trouble. [More]
Online Retailer Pulls Belts Because Radioactive Accessories Are Neither Stylish Nor Healthy
By 5.28.13
“Ooh, what are you wearing? You’re simply glowing.” That is definitely a compliment, unless, of course, the glow is coming from a radioactive material. One online retailer has had to withdraw a batch of metal-studded belts over claims that they were radioactive, and could cause harm to the wearer after 500 hours. [More]
Walmart Creates Its Own Bangladesh Factory Safety Program
By 5.15.13
While major European retailers have moved to sign a legally binding accord aimed at improving working conditions and factory safety in Bangladesh, the large American retailers have yet to join. Now, amid reports that some of its products had been made at the Rana Plaza facility that collapsed in April, taking the lives of more than 1,100 people, Walmart is creating its own program to inspect these facilities. [More]
Parent Co. Of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger Is First U.S. Apparel Maker To Join Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord
By 5.13.13
Weeks after a garment factory outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapse, injuring thousands and taking the lives of more than 1,100, a number of large, global apparel and retail companies have signed on to an accord aimed at improving conditions for garment workers in the area and preventing future tragedies. [More]
April Food And Drug Recall Roundup – Potato Chips With Salt And Vinegar And Metal Fragments
By 4.9.13
Our monthly Recall Roundups have grown so expansive that we’ve had to separate them into two separate roundups: one for consumer goods, and one for consumables. In this edition of the Food and Drug roundup, dangers lurk everywhere, from uneviscerated herring to “all-natural male enhancement supplements” that are pretty much just Viagra. Yes, again. [More]
Court Would Rather Drivers Get Lost Than Use Phone Maps While Driving
By 4.9.13
There’s a lot to be said about laws that protect drivers from distraction, including those in California that ban driving while texting or otherwise noodling around on your phone. But what if you’re just trying to get where you’re going, and your car isn’t moving? That’s not okay, say courts involved in the case of a motorist who was pulled over for checking the map on his iPhone 4. [More]
Warning: Kids Might Eat Expanding Polymer Balls That Look Like Candy
By 4.3.13
Here’s the thing: if you make something that’s brightly colored and looks like candy, kids are going to eat it. Water Balz and other similar expanding, water-absorbing polymer toys seem pretty fun, and are also bright and shiny and look like candy. The problem comes when a pet or a child who is too young to understand gets hold of one of these delicious treats and eats it. [More]
Does The Lint Lizard Actually Work? Surprisingly, Yes
By 3.22.13
Infomercial products usually claim to solve a problem that you didn’t know you had. This is usually the stuff of jokes, but what if the products actually improved our lives and made us and our homes more safe? Such a thing is possible in the case of the Lint Lizard, a $11 gadget that promises to attach to your vacuum and suck gobs of lint out of the crevices of your dryer. [More]
Great, My Acer Laptop Battery Exploded
By 3.14.13
Did you think that the laptop battery explosion epidemic was over? No, it’s not just in the Boeing Dreamliner. Bill’s Acer laptop battery exploded not long ago: of course, he bought it in 2011 and the computer is now out of warranty. Acer is happy to take the computer back, but only to look at it for a “safety evaluation” and maybe to not send it back to Bill. He doesn’t think that this is fair. He sent the relevant exploded parts back to Acer, but doesn’t want to send back his hard drive or the rest of the computer. He wants replacement parts so he can get it working again. [More]
When It Comes To Children, 10 Pounds Actually Makes A Big Difference
By 3.4.13
10 pounds doesn’t seem like much of a weight difference, unless you’re talking about the difference between a 15-pound infant and a 25-pound toddler. Reader O. had this problem when shopping for a playard (does no one say “play pen” anymore?) with a bassinet and changing table included. The shelf tag for the changing table claimed that it was good for up to 25 pounds: not bad. Except it is kind of bad, because it’s not true. [More]
February Food And Drug Recall Roundup – Antibiotic Pig Ear Edition
By 2.28.13
Chewy pig skins, chia seed treats, brownie mix, and herbal supplements that are a little too close to actual drugs: it’s all here, in the Food and Drug Edition of the Recall Roundup. [More]
Do Not Drink These Energy Shots Unless You Are A Car
By 2.19.13 — Updated: 2.20.13
We have no idea whether gasoline additive Eco Fuel Saver does what it’s supposed to: increasing your fuel mileage, cutting back on pollutants, and making your car 800% more awesome. Or maybe just those first two. What we do know is that people are stupid. It’s not hard to picture what must have happened to lead the management of this gas station to put up this very prominent sign. [More]
February Recall Roundup: The Heated Parka’s Revenge
By 2.8.13
In this month’s Recall Roundup, pots and pans collapse on themselves, kids need to keep away from some vitamins, and battery-operated electric parkas turn on their owners and give them too much of a good thing. [More]
Walmart Warns Suppliers They Better Abide By Stricter Rules Or Get Dropped
By 1.22.13
After a fire at a Bangladesh factory that supplied clothing to Walmart and other stores killed 112 workers in November, Walmart has announced that it is taking its suppliers around the globe to task when it comes to subcontracting their work. In other words, if Walmart doesn’t approve of the factories suppliers use, it’ll drop those companies lickety-split. [More]
Toyota Will Pay A Record Fine Of $17.35M Over Delay In Reporting Safety Defects
By 12.18.12
Toyota says it will be paying out a record $17.35 million — the maximum fine allowably by law — after the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the company had delayed reporting a safety defect to the government. It’s the highest single civil penalty that’s ever been paid to the NHTS Afor violations that are a result of a recall. [More]
