Inside the New Public Database: Lifecycle of a Consumer Complaint

1. Inside the New Public Database:Lifecycle of a Consumer Complaint Cheryl A. Falvey, General Counsel DeWane Ray, Deputy AED for Hazard Identification and Reduction Marc Schoem, Deputy Director, Office of Compliance and Field Operations Melissa Hampshire, Assistant General Counsel, Enforcement and Information Scott Wolfson, Director, Office of Information and Public Affairs This presentation has not been reviewed or approved by the Commission and may not reflect its views.

2. Background The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 required CPSC to establish a new product safety database not later than March 2011 that: • Allows consumers to directly submit “reports of harm;” • Enables manufacturers, importers and private labelers to respond in the database to reports of harm involving their products; • Is publicly available and searchable; and • Is accessible through the CPSC’s Web site: www.cpsc.gov 2 For Official Use Only

4. Presentation Roadmap • Overview of IT Systems • Current State • Future State • Incident Report Phases • Intake • Triage • Integrated Teams • Legal Considerations • Education and Outreach

5. Data Inputs • Historically, the CPSC has compiled incident reports from three major sources: • National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS); • Death Certificates purchased from state governments; and • Injury or Potential Injury Incident (IPII) database that includes: • Complaints filed through the CPSC’s website, telephone hotline or via email; • Reports from medical examiners and coroners; • News clips; • Reports submitted by public safety entities; • Reports submitted by other government agencies; and • Manufacturer/retailer reports.

6. Current State – Outmoded Technology Fails to Adequately Protect Consumers A consumer is injured by a poorly designed product. The consumer enters an incident report on CPSC.gov. Consumers Manufacturers 2 Because of manual data input, it may be up to six weeks before the report is reviewed. 1 ! No searchable public database of product incident reports. ! No direct interface to manufacturers exists. Incidents are sent manually on a monthly basis. ! CPSC.gov FOIA Requests Constituents CPSC EWS 6 The existing Early Warning System (EWS) only supports three product categories. Other products must be manually triaged, and frequently patterns are not detected immediately. CPSC staff must manually respond to FOIA requests, which consume staff time that would be more productively used supporting the agency mission researching product safety issues. ! ! No automated case management to track the progress of an investigation throughout the Agency. Cannot easily determine current status of an investigation. 3 Legacy Systems And Databases ! Compliance 5 Epidemiology Multiple disconnected databases are not linked so investigations are not integrated and it is difficult to share information across the Agency. 4 ! Field Investigations Product Safety Assessments Denotes legacy technology

7. In the Future – New Technology Protects Children and Families A consumer is injured by a poorly designed product. The consumer visits the public portal and enters an incident report into the public database. The report is instantly visible to CPSC staff. Consumers Manufacturers 1 PUBLIC DATABASE Mandated by CPSIA to be completed by March 2011 2 The product manufacturer is automatically sent a copy of the incident report and given the opportunity to comment. 6 Public Portal Manufacturer Portal Consumers and others can search the public database to look for prior safety issues for a specific product, reducing dependence on the FOIA process. Constituents CPSC Case Management EWS Version 2.0 Compliance, Field Investigations, and EXHR are able to coordinate all case-related activities in their effort to quickly investigate and respond to the incident. Management can instantly determine the status of a particular case. Epidemiology reviews the incident report and is able to search and view all related incidents, which allows them to rapidly detect potential hazard patterns for all product categories. All incident reports are triaged within 5 days of receipt. 3 5 Compliance Data Warehouse Document Management Epidemiology The Data Warehouse and Document Management System provide a central repository for storing all CPSC data and documents to allow for easy searching and retrieval. 4 Field Investigations Product Safety Assessments Denotes new technology

8. Report of Harm Publication Process in the Database. Reports of Harm • 2. CPSC Specialist verifies eight required fields… • aDescription of the consumer product • aIdentity of the manufacturer or private labeler • aDescription of the harm • aIncident date (or approximate date) • aCategory of submitter • aContact information of the submitter • aVerification of submitter • aConsent of submitter • … and transmits report of harm to the manufacturer. 1. Consumer submits Report of Harm. Rule Requirements 4. CPSC staff reviews any Comment and then publishes the Report of Harm and any Comment into the Database. 3. Manufacturer registers and may submit Comment. For Official Use Only

10. Core Business Functions U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumers Administration 0. Planning, Management, and Evaluation Industry Congress Intake and Identification Investigation and Analysis Enforcement Safety Professionals Healthcare Providers Customs and Border Patrol Standards Medical Examiners Industry Fed/State/Local Agencies Consumers International Industry Relations Media Customs and Border Patrol Education and Awareness International International / Government Fed/State/Local Agencies

11. Integrated Team Approach U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumers Administration 0. Planning, Management, and Evaluation Commission Executive Director / AEDs Industry Congress Intake and Identification Investigation and Analysis Enforcement Safety Professionals INTEGRATED TEAMS Data Intake Triage/ Epidemiology Import Surveillance Healthcare Providers Compliance Field Engineering Lab Health Sciences Economic Factors Customs and Border Patrol Standards Medical Examiners Industry Fed/State/Local Agencies Consumers International Industry Relations Ombudsman Clearinghouse Media Customs and Border Patrol Education and Awareness Public Affairs Office of Education International International / Government Intergovernmental Affairs Fed/State/Local Agencies

12. Business Input at SaferProducts.gov When does the manufacturer's duty to report arise? 12 For Official Use Only

17. Integrated Team Approach U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumers Administration 0. Planning, Management, and Evaluation Commission Executive Director / AEDs Industry Congress Intake and Identification Investigation and Analysis Enforcement Safety Professionals INTEGRATED TEAMS Data Intake Triage/ Epidemiology Import Surveillance Healthcare Providers Compliance Field Engineering Lab Health Sciences Economic Factors Customs and Border Patrol Standards Medical Examiners Industry Fed/State/Local Agencies Consumers International Industry Relations Ombudsman Clearinghouse Media Customs and Border Patrol Education and Awareness Public Affairs Office of Education International International / Government Intergovernmental Affairs Fed/State/Local Agencies

18. An Informed Consumer Is An Empowered Consumer

19. Calling For Manufacturers To Connect With CPSC • Promoting the Business Portal • FAQs and Tutorial Videos on Business Registration & Business Response

20. Calling For Consumers To Connect With CPSC • We know how to do this; it is what we have done for decades • Moving more consumers to online incident reporting vs. Hotline, e-mail and mail

21. Twitter Conversation

22. Blogging – OnSafety, Partners

23. Calling For Consumers To Connect With CPSC • Tutorial Video On “How To File A Report”; Coming Soon: “How to Search” • FAQs aimed at promoting accurate reporting • March: Promoting the Launch • April: Touting The Search Function

24. CPSC Stands for Safety