Starting March 11, 2011 a public database will be launched at
http://saferproducts.gov/ . Please watch the Public Database Q & A Video under "What's New" for a better understanding of what the database will involve. Or read the transcript at
http://saferproducts.gov/DBaseQA.htmlIt looks like the database will be more along the lines of a "Police Blotter" style of reporting where anyone can make a minimally substantiate incident report naming a suspected product, but with out the CPSC or the CPSIA commission necessarily doing any follow up reporting on the disposition of the investigation. In the video they say "However, we will not be able to verify every single report. The database does contain a disclaimer to the fact that the commission cannot guarantee the completeness, accuracy or adequacy of the information in the public database and manufacturers also have an opportunity to comment if they choose to."
Additionally the name of the person or organization that reports the incident if they choose to can even keep their identity secret from those they are accusing of making a hazardous product. From the video "Well, CPSC protects the identity of members of the public who submit incident reports into the public database. We will not release the person's name or other personally identifiable information to the public database. The submitter can grant CPSC permission to provide that information, the contact information to the manufacturers so that information maybe used in the investigation of that incident report but that information will never be made, the contact information, the name will never be made available in the public database."
IMO this database could easily be confused with the actual recall database found at
http://www.recalls.gov/index.html causing confussion to consumers. The database may make people think that if a product they own is on the incident database that it's been officially recalled, rather than just a report that the CPSC may choose to investigate. The CPSC really needs to look harder at the issue of posting the report without first investigating if it has merit to the public or would cause consfusion. Prehaps including the disclaimer on top of each page of each incident report and on each subsequent comments may help or by having an investigation summary in highlighted banner informing the consumer about what they should do if they have that product like 'Follow manufacturer's directions and use as specified' or 'Product under investigation for recall refrain from using' or 'Product tested, found safe under (whatever regulation #)'. I'm not against letting the public know of the possibility of a potentially dangerous product, but lets make sure the public also undertands that the database is the start of the investigation not the end all results.
