CPSC's compliance program protects consumers and saves lives by working with industry to correct or recall products that violate CPSC safety standards or present a substantial risk of injury. The Agency watches over a wide range of consumer products obtaining hazard information from surveillance at ports of entry, consumer complaints, industry referrals and other sources. In 1994, CPSC identified 330 cases where the products presented a significant enough hazard to request a recall. All 330 cases resulted in voluntary product recalls of about 11.7 million products.

Recalls save lives in several ways: (1) consumers who bought the products and responded to the recall are no longer at risk, (2) firms redesign their products or stop selling them, removing the particular hazard and saving lives in the future and (3) consumers may throw an unsafe product away, change their behavior to use the product in a safer way, or repair the product themselves

Some examples of recalls, and estimates of lives saved are:

Playpen/travel crib - two children died and a child lost consciousness when a playpen collapsed. The company announced a full recall and retrofit program, and modified future production to eliminate the defect that caused these collapses. An estimated nine lives were potentially saved due to the recall; about four lives are saved annually due to redesign of the product.

Cradle Swing - five infants suffocated and five infants nearly suffocated when they slid to the head of a cradle that swings the infant from head to foot. The company agreed to recall the cradle portion of the swing and developed a campaign to inform the public. An estimated seven lives were potentially saved due to the recall; about six lives are saved annually due to redesign of the product.

Infant Cushions - three infants died after being placed to sleep on their stomachs on top of infant cushions. They were found with their faces buried in the cushions that molded around their heads. The manufacturers voluntarily recalled the products and CPSC later banned them to prevent their reintroduction into the market. At the time of the ban, 35 deaths and one case of brain damage were reportedly associated with infant cushions. An estimated 12 lives were potentially saved due to the recall; about 9 lives are saved annually due to the ban.

These three examples alone were estimated to result in about 28 lives potentially saved due to the recalls and about 19 lives saved annually due to redesign or ban of the products.

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