The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) fails to protect the American people by blocking common sense solutions. Last month the CPSC Commissioners voted 4-1 to deny the National Floor Safety Institute’s (NFSI) petition calling for mandatory testing and labeling of flooring, floor cleaners, and footwear all of which are primary contributors to slip and fall injuries and fatalities. CPSC 's own data reveals that falls are the fourth leading cause of accidental death in America, tied with automobile accidents, but has done nothing to address this crisis.**
**Had the NFSI’s petition been approved, all floor coverings, floor cleaners, and shoe outsoles would have to inform the consumer as to their products slip resistance (Traction) via a easy to understand consumer based labeling system. CPSC staff produced a report recommending the petition be denied. **
It’s time to make our government agencies accountable to the American people.
First consequences. Just like corporations who stoked the WOKE agenda and forgot who their customers are (i:e:, Bud Light), we need a network of inspector generals who report to Congress the actions, inactions, and internal operations of all federal agencies by way of an annual review/audit. The American people need and deserve better and timely information as it relates to how their tax dollars are being spent. As it standards today, it’s only long after the damage is done that we hear about it and by that time it’s too late. Open the windows and let the sunshine in!
Secondly, we need to mandate federal employee end of work agreements as to prohibit the current revolving door of people coming in and out of public and private sector service. I would propose that all senior federal agency employees sign a non-compete agreement, just like the private sector does, prohibiting them from going to work for companies who have business before the agency the just left, say for a five year period. Many of the people who seek senior level federal jobs know how to play the game and do so at “We the People’s” expense.
Lastly, we need to relocate federal agencies out of D.C. and to locations across the country making it more difficult and costly for predatorial corporate lobbyists to feed of of the herd of former and future bureaucrats. Make the bureaucrats live with the people whose lives they impact!
I disagree. The NFSI proposal is more about education than regulation. The only way “We the People” can make more informed decisions about products that may harm us is through fair business practices which includes product testing and labeling. Lets take for example food product labeling. Prior to mandatory food labeling, manufacturers could make any claim they wanted about their product one of the most popular was the claim that the product was “fat free” when in reality it was loaded with fat. But because the word “fat” was not well defined they were able to promote un-health food as health. See where I’m going? Today food manufacturers are required to provide information about their products sugar level, fat, salt etc., so consumers can decide for themselves if they want to consume the product. This is extremely important for people with food allergies or diet restrictions. In order for food companies to produce their food content information requires them to have their products tested.
The same approach is what needs to be applied to floors, floor cleaners, and footwear. Would it surprise you to know that the term Slip Resistant" which is broadly used on a wide range of flooring products and footwear is also undefined? There are alot of Slip Resistant products sold that are very slippery, but how would the consumer know? Why deny the consumer the right to know that the floor, flor cleaner, or shoes they are about to purchase have a low traction level and in-turn may increase their chances of a serious fall related injury.
Would it surprise you to know that in a 2023 study of the top 17 household floor cleaners after-use level of slip resistance, 11 actually made the flooring surface more slippery than before it was mopped? That’s right, everytime you mop your floor its gets more slippery. But how would the consumer ever connect these dots? Without the information they can’t and that’s why corporate America does not support product testing and labeling.
Chemical floor cleaner manufacturers have learned through decades of marketing research that the top two things consumers look for in a floor cleaner are: 1. after mopping the floor smells “clean”, and 2. after mopping the floor is shiney (which they believe means that it’s clean. In order for manufacturers to meet both requirements they will add a small amount of an oil-based fragrance (perfume) which after mopping will make the room smell and look clean. How do I know this…I owned a company which manufactured floor cleaners.
But don’t you see how this is solving the symptoms of the root cause? Government agencies need dismantled, and only to be established via sunset clauses.
The States need to fund and regulate business on the same level as the federal government.
Not that I don’t agree these issues can cause some safety concerns, it’s nothing compared to the system of deficit spending and federalization that we are up against.
But I agree that if ‘federal agencies’ are going to continue to exist, it needs to be for a limited time, and outside of the unconstitutional federal district.
Large companies with no economic expansion regulation can take the hit from not being transparent due to their multi-national business models.
I agree with the issue, thanks to the greater clarification; I think the solve is slapping a bandaid over a wound that desperately needs antibiotics.
To quote you
'The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) fails to protect the American people by blocking common sense solutions…CPSC ‘s own data reveals that falls are the fourth leading cause of accidental death in America, tied with automobile accidents, but has done nothing to address this crisis.’
Federal agencies cannot be trusted with our money. The states must manage their own agencies for their own purposes.
I’ll one up you, make it a Constitutional Amendment that all Federal Agencies be dismantled after a period of time; all to function under sunset clauses, with a clear goal in mind.
All government agencies must be established and managed at the State level.
I don’t know about a constitutional trigger calling for automatic dismantlement but I think there should be a law requiring Congress to approve the need of a government agency every 10 years. Agencies who may have been need in the past may no longer be needed.
