Labeling and performance standards for product safety: The case of CPSC's lawn mower standards

• Published in: Managerial and decision economics 1996-09, Vol.17 (5), p.509-516
• Main Authors: Moore, Michael J., Magat, Wesley A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age groups; Consumer goods; Decision making; Industrial regulation; Job performance standards; Lawns; Management techniques; Physical trauma; Product labeling; Product safety; Product safety regulation; Product standards; Production standards; Safety; Summer; Trademarks
• ISSN: 0143-6570; 1099-1468
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1468(199609)17:5<509::AID-MDE792>3.0.CO;2-W

On 1 July 1982 the primary safety standard for walk-behind power lawn mowers finally became effective, ending a controversial, nine-year process of regulation by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that involved the industry trade association, a consumer interest group, two acts of the US Congress, and a federal circuit court decision, as well as a mandatory labeling regulation two and a half years earlier. While this highly publicized example of product safety regulation is interesting in and of itself, there are broader lessons to be learned from it as well. The authors describe the structure of the lawn mower industry and reviews the accident trends associated with power lawn mower use. They recount the history of the process of developing regulations, as well as summarize the main elements of the labeling and performance standards that resulted from that process. They also describe the data on lawn mower-related injuries and the calculation of injury rates in units of injuries reported to hospital emergency rooms per mower in use. They summarize the impact of CPSC lawn mower standards.