CPSC was created in 1972 under the Consumer Product Safety Act to regulate certain consumer products and address those that pose an unreasonable risk of injury; assist consumers in evaluating the comparative safety of consumer products; and promote research and investigation into the causes and prevention of product-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses. CPSC’s jurisdiction is broad, covering thousands of types of manufacturers and consumer products used in and around the home and in sports, recreation, and schools. CPSC does not have jurisdiction over some categories of products, including automobiles and other on-road vehicles, tires, boats, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, and pesticides. Other federal agencies—including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Coast Guard; Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives; Department of Agriculture; Food and Drug Administration; and Environmental Protection Agency—have jurisdiction over these products. Consumers and others previously were able to report safety problems or concerns about consumer products through CPSC’s toll-free hotline; the U.S. mail, or a form on CPSC’s website submitted through e-mail and they can continue to use these methods in lieu of submitting reports through SaferProducts.gov. CPSIA and CPSC define “harm” as injury, illness, or death or risk of injury, illness or death. 15 U.S.C. § 2055a(g); 16 C.F.R. § 1102.6(b)(4). be published. As required by statute, CPSC disclaims any responsibility to guarantee the accuracy of a report. The submitter of an incident report on SaferProducts.gov must fit into one of five categories: (1) consumers; (2) local, state, and federal government agencies; (3) health care professionals; (4) child service providers; and (5) public safety entities. CPSC regulations specify that “consumers” include, but not be limited to, users of consumer products, family members, relatives, parents, guardians, friends, attorneys, investigators, professional engineers, agents of a user of a consumer product, and observers of the consumer products being used. CPSIA requires the following information when submitting a report of harm: (1) description of the consumer product sufficient to distinguish the product as a product or component part regulated by CPSC; (2) identity of the manufacturer or private labeler by name; (3) description of the harm related to use of the consumer product; (4) approximate or actual date of the incident; (5) category of submitter; (6) submitter’s contact information; (7) submitter’s verification that the information contained therein is true and accurate; and (8) consent to publication of the report of harm. 15 U.S.C. § 2055a(b)(2)(B); C.F.R. § 1102.10(d). Subject to §§ 1102.24 and 1102.26, CPSC will publish reports of harm containing all the required information. required to contact the submitters for further information.transmits a copy to manufacturers, importers, and private labelers identified in the reports, to provide them with the opportunity to comment. Qualifying reports and manufacturer comments submitted for publication are then available on SaferProducts.gov (see fig. 1). CPSC’s efforts to promote SaferProducts.gov formed part of a larger effort to increase the public’s awareness of the agency. CPSC has taken a variety of approaches to inform the public about SaferProducts.gov, many of which are consistent with key practices for consumer education planning. However, CPSC has not established metrics for its efforts. As a result, the agency does not know which of its efforts have had the most impact on increasing awareness and use of SaferProducts.gov. CPSC’s efforts to inform the public about SaferProducts.gov have been part of a larger effort to increase the public’s awareness of the agency. According to CPSC officials, certain segments of the public may not be aware of the agency or its mission in product safety, much less be aware of SaferProducts.gov. Likewise, roughly one-third of the 37 consumers who participated in our website usability tests were aware of CPSC or its mission. To promote awareness of CPSC, officials have conducted public information campaigns related to various product safety hazards such as fire hazards and those involving children’s products, issued press releases about product recalls, and used social media. Officials said that media stories promoting the use of SaferProducts.gov have had the benefit of promoting CPSC as a resource not only for information about product recalls (for which the agency is most commonly known), but also as a place where consumers can raise concerns about the safety of consumer products. In addition to the outreach efforts noted above, CPSC has planned initiatives to assess the public’s awareness of the agency as a whole. In fiscal year 2011, CPSC’s Office of Communications received funds to award a contract to plan and conduct field surveys to assess consumer awareness of the agency. CPSC and a contractor are developing the survey tool. These surveys are to cover such areas as the public’s knowledge and awareness of the safety issues for which CPSC is responsible, how the agency’s work affects consumers, and how the public responds to product recalls and other safety hazards that CPSC communicates. CPSC officials told us that they plan to administer the survey in 2013, but have been awaiting approval of the survey from the Office of Management and Budget. CPSC also recently redesigned its main website, CPSC.gov, based on feedback from the public. According to CPSC officials, this redesign allowed the agency to provide a more visible link to SaferProducts.gov. As it has for publicizing the agency, CPSC has used a variety of approaches to inform the public about SaferProducts.gov, including the use of social and other media. Before launching SaferProducts.gov, CPSC hosted a web conference on January 11, 2011, to inform interested stakeholders such as consumer groups and the public about the site’s search function and the information required to submit an incident report.2011, CPSC promoted the new website through print and other media. According to CPSC officials, the agency’s promotional strategy emphasized both the public’s ability to search SaferProducts.gov for reports and submit such reports. In addition, near the 1-year anniversary of SaferProducts.gov, CPSC launched three public service Around the time it launched SaferProducts.gov in March announcements (PSAs) about SaferProducts.gov, sending these PSAs to local and national media and making them available on online media channels, such as YouTube (http://www.youtube.com). According to CPSC officials, the agency has a contract with a video production company to produce and distribute the videos. CPSC officials said that the PSAs have been among the 10 most-viewed videos on CPSC’s YouTube channel. They added that it was difficult to attract extensive television coverage or the best airtime slots given CPSC’s PSA budget of about $50,000 for fiscal year 2012. Further, the officials said that PSAs can cost from $700,000 to $1 million to produce, distribute, and air during prime viewing or listening times. The agency also has distributed informational materials to target audiences at conferences and community events; referenced the site in speeches and presentations by the Chairman, Commissioners, and staff; and held press interviews to promote the site, according to CPSC officials. For example, CPSC developed a series of brochures, including some tailored to specific professional sectors, such as health care, child care, public safety, and government. CPSC officials noted that they have mentioned the site at conferences, particularly those aimed at minority populations and professional groups. The agency also has made a data feed of the incident reports available to third-party software developers to create mobile applications and provided information for developers in a frequently asked questions page on SaferProducts.gov. In conducting its public information efforts, CPSC has employed a number of strategies consistent with key practices for consumer education planning that we identified in a prior report. For example, CPSC has worked with stakeholders such as consumer groups (a key practice) to promote SaferProducts.gov, and used a variety of media (another key practice) to promote the site. CPSC also has identified “messengers” such as consumer groups and state attorneys general to assist with publicity, and identified the resources needed for publicity (other key practices). Most of the consumer product safety experts we interviewed from nine groups representing consumers, researchers, and various industries stated that CPSC has been taking appropriate measures to promote the site. However, some also suggested that CPSC could conduct more targeted outreach to other professional groups, such as those in health care, and other populations, such as parents. While CPSC has employed many of the key practices for consumer education planning as described previously, it has not employed one of the key practices that could further improve the efficacy of its outreach for SaferProducts.gov. Specifically, CPSC has not established metrics, such as process and outcome metrics, to measure the success of its outreach In its 2013 performance budget request, as part of an effort to efforts.increase awareness of the agency, CPSC has a goal for the number of visits to CPSC.gov. However, CPSC does not have a similar goal for the number of visits to SaferProducts.gov, although it collects such data (as discussed in the next section of this report). Similarly, CPSC has not determined whether its efforts to publicize SaferProducts.gov at conferences or through PSAs have led to increased use of SaferProducts.gov after the events.