Opinion ID: 2547459
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Federal Standards

Text: In 1972, the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) created the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The CPSC is an independent regulatory body charged with (1) protecting the public against unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products, (2) developing safety standards for consumer products, and (3) promoting research and investigation into the cause and prevention of injuries. 15 U.S.C. §§ 2051(b)(1), (b)(2), (b)(4), 2053(a); BIC Pen, 251 S.W.3d at 503. As relevant to this matter, the CPSC analyzed costs and benefits to the public of requiring disposable lighters to be child resistant. It then adopted regulations requiring disposable lighters to be child resistant as to children under five years of age and standards for certifying lighters as child resistant. BIC Pen, 251 S.W.3d at 503; 16 C.F.R. § 1210.1. The CPSC does not impose design requirements on manufacturers. Rather, the child-resistance requirements are performance based so the burden is on manufacturers to design lighters that comply with the performance standards. BIC Pen, 251 S.W.3d at 504 (citing Safety Standard for Cigarette Lighters, 58 Fed. Reg. 37,580-81 (July 12, 1993) (codified at 16 C.F.R. pt. 1210)). Before a lighter may be distributed, the manufacturer must submit a detailed description of the lighter and its child resistant features to the CPSC and the lighter must be certified. 16 C.F.R. § 1210.15. In order for a lighter such as BIC's J-26 to be certified as child resistant, CPSC requires that tests be performed to determine the extent to which children under five years of age can operate the lighter. At least eighty-five percent of the children who are tested must be unable to operate it. BIC Pen, 251 S.W.3d at 504; 16 C.F.R. § 1210.4(h)(1). The CPSC regulations require a specific testing protocol to be followed for a lighter to be certified as child resistant. Before testing is begun, measurements are taken to ensure that all operating components on which child resistance is dependent are within designed tolerances. 16 C.F.R. § 1210.4(c)(4). The test protocol then begins with a panel of one hundred children ages forty-two to fifty-one months being divided into six groups of fifteen to seventeen children. The children on each panel must consist of three age groups: forty-two to forty-four months, forty-five to forty-eight months, and forty-nine to fifty-one months, with approximately thirty, forty, and thirty percent of the children to be of the respective age groups. See id. § 1210.4. Each group uses one of six surrogate lighters that look like actual lighters, but emit signals rather than flames when operated. Id. Each child is given two five-minute attempts to operate the lighter being tested. If no more than ten of the children on the first test panel operate the lighter, the lighter is certified as child resistant and no further testing is necessary. Id. § 1210.4(h)(1). If more than ten children on the first panel operate the lighter, however, another panel of 100 children is tested. Id. If no more than thirty of the 200 children on the two panels operate the lighter, it is certified as child resistant and no further testing is required. Id. § 1210.4(h)(2).