REVEALED: Australia’s most dangerous products STILL in circulation – including 85 potentially lethal children’s toys that are being recalled
- More than 6.6million dangerous items in Australia are presently being recalled
- Half of these items are in Australian homes, the competition regulator warned
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said kids’ toys are a big risk
- This year so far, 85 dangerous kids’ toys or baby products have been recalled
More than 6.6million dangerous items are being recalled, with the competition regulator warning many of them could cause injuries or even death.
Half of these goods are still in Australian homes, new figures showed.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s head of litigation and enforcement Sarah Court said 85 kids’ toys or baby products had been recalled in 2019.
‘In Australia, two people die and 145 people are injured every day by unsafe consumer products,’ the ACCC commissioner said.
More than 6.6million dangerous items are being recalled, with the competition regulator warning many of them could cause injuries or even death. A pedal go-kart (pictured) from BMW-Mini’s toy division was recalled last month over fears ‘the gaps may cause an entrapment hazard and children’s body parts may become trapped or jammed, causing an injury’
‘Many people would be surprised to learn there is currently no law that requires businesses to not sell unsafe products.’
Consumer group Choice said button-sized batteries killed children and were a particular menace.
The group’s campaigns and policy adviser Amy Pereira said kids would continue to die unnecessarily until there were tougher laws.
‘Without this reform, people will continue to be hurt and even killed by dangerous products like button battery-powered devices,’ she told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘It’s essential that Parliament be forced to take this problem seriously and legislate a solution.’
In an alarming set of tests, Choice found 98 per cent of portable cots, of the 60 it tested, had failed.
A Union Australia Cool Baby Portable Cot was recalled in August over fears it could kill a baby or toddler, particularly if an extra mattress was added
Strollers were another risk, with 83 per cent of the 163 it tested being regarded as unsafe.
Fixed cots were also dangerous, with 59 per cent of the 173 that were scrutinised getting an F.
A Union Australia Cool Baby Portable Cot was recalled in August over fears it could kill a baby or toddler, particularly if an extra mattress was added.
‘If the mattress is not used correctly, there may be a risk of suffocation to infants or young children,’ the ACCC said on its Product Safety Australia website.
It was far from the only potentially lethal item being recalled.
Silicon dummies, designed by New Zealand company Think Green, have been withdrawn from sale over misuse could kill a baby.
A French dummy featuring beads by Jura Toys was also regarded as a fatality hazard
‘A cord or ribbon attached to a dummy may pose a strangulation hazard,’ the ACCC said in March.
A French dummy featuring beads by Jura Toys was also regarded as a fatality hazard.
‘If the defect occurs while in use, the beads could pose a choking hazard,’ the recall notice from April said.
Even if a product didn’t kill a child, some products were deemed a serious injury risk.
A pedal go-kart from BMW-Mini’s toy division was recalled last month over fears ‘the gaps may cause an entrapment hazard and children’s body parts may become trapped or jammed, causing an injury’.
Infant sleeping bags weren’t safe either with a TJX Australia product recalled in July over fears ‘t he garment may pose a potential fire risk to the wearer’.
Silicon dummies, designed by New Zealand company Think Green, have been withdrawn from sale over misuse could be a strangulation hazard