Grilling our readers results in a recall

You gotta hand it to a guy who would drive all the way from Columbus, Indiana to Yonkers, New York to deliver a used grill to our testing labs. That's what John Heathcote did after we contacted him to learn more about a Perfect Flame grill that was giving him trouble. Because we only test new products, our normal testing protocols hadn't picked up on problems that John and other Perfect Flame owners were having after using their grills for awhile. Problems like lids catching fire and burners becoming dangerously deteriorated. (That's John, in shorts, at right showing his grill to Don Mays.)

John's grill was one of two donated for our tests but he gets the award for coming the farthest. (He also got a replacement grill and gas money.) What we got was more information to argue for the grill to be recalled. And yesterday it was—665,000 Perfect Flame SLG series grills in fact.

Not only do we listen to our readers but we act on your complaints. When we're told about safety hazards, we enter the information into a database that we monitor to uncover and address emerging problems. 
 
Readers started telling us about issues with Perfect Flame grills in 2007. We analyzed their complaints and wrote about them on this blog in August 2008. We questioned whether an earlier Perfect Flame grill recall  went far enough since it hadn’t include other hazardous models that our readers complained about—specifically the SLG2006, SLG2007 and SLG2008 series grills. 

We also reported our concerns to the compliance office of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and followed up with a written request for an investigation and recall. We sent the CPSC a list of 136 complaints we'd received, most citing uncontrolled fires, melting and poor burner quality for their SLG model grills. One user had been burned while trying to extinguish a fire and two homes had suffered property damage. Clearly, the CPSC should have addressed this hazardous product immediately.
 
But it didn't and we kept getting complaints at the rate of more than two per week.  By the beginning of this August, we'd received 77 complaints of fires, resulting in 11 injuries including burns to the hands, arms and legs. The injuries included two reports of breathing complications from inhalation of noxious gasses, and some 60 problems with burners cracking and rusting and/or shooting out irregular flames.

After reading so many complaints we wanted to test the older grills ourselves. That's where John came in. We put his grill and one from another volunteer through tests cooking fatty hamburgers and juicy steaks.  Although there were unusual flame patterns and out-of-control flare ups, we didn’t see any molten metal or lid fires. (It’s perplexing, though common, to get different results in a lab from those that turn up in the real world.)
 
When John got home he wrote to us again. “I truly hope that acquiring my grill will help in your research. I too believe there is something wrong with the Perfect Flame grills, either with the materials, the design or a combination of both," he said. "You have no idea how much I appreciate getting a replacement grill and how good it makes me feel knowing that I may help resolve an issue with a dangerous product.”

Finally, a full 14 months after we first brought Perfect Flame's imperfect flames to the CPSC's attention, the grill was recalled yesterday. “CPSC commends Consumers Union and Consumer Reports for the in-depth laboratory testing and research done in regard to this product," the agency's spokesman Scott Wolfson told us.  "Now that the recall is out, it's time for consumers with these dangerous grills to respond immediately to the recall to avoid any more fires or injuries.”
 
So it pays to report your safety concerns to us. That way we can warn readers, tweak our testing programs and push government agencies, manufacturers and retailers to get unsafe products off the market and out of consumers’ homes. To report a problem, fill out a form on our Web site. You can also report unsafe products to the CPSC.

Hats off to John Heathcote and to the rest of you who wrote.—Don Mays

Fires and burns prompt recall of 665,000 Perfect Flame grills sold at Lowe's

After reports of fires and some injuries, Perfect Flame has recalled its SLG series of grills -- totaling 665,000 grills sold at Lowe’s retail outlets nationwide over the past four years. Perfect Flame has received about 40 reports of fires from the burners deteriorating and about 23 reports of the lids catching fire. The company is aware of one report of an eye injury requiring surgery and 21 incidents of minor burns to the hands, arms or face.

After writing about these grills in August 2008, we have been hearing from readers about their problems with Perfect Flame grills and have taken our concerns to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Today we'd like to get the word out on the recall but we'll be weighing in with more information in the coming days.

This recall includes 10 model numbers with the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 in the model number. (See the recall notice for the full list.) According to the notice, the burners can deteriorate causing irregular flames and the lids of some models can catch fire, posing fire and burn hazards to the consumer.

The CPSC is advising owners to stop using the grills. Perfect Flame is offering owners replacement lids and/or burners, depending on the model. Grill owners should contact the company at (888) 840-9590  or visit www.lowes.com for more information.

Based on the comments from our readers who have had a variety of good and bad experiences trying to get their damaged grills replaced, we'll be interested to see how the company handles this recall.

Jon minus Kate tempts fate

You’d think that a guy who thrives on attention would seek a bit less of it when he’s doing something unsafe. Especially when it also endangers his children. But no. Jon Gosselin, star of TV’s former reality show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight," didn’t seem the least bit concerned about putting one of his five-year-olds on an ATV. The fact that 20 percent of those killed by ATVs and 30 percent of those injured are kids must have escaped him.
 
Gosselin risked having his son become one of the 40,000 kids who are sent to emergency rooms each year in accidents related to ATVs. Plus, neither the elder nor the younger Gosselin was wearing essential safety gear—a helmet.
 
Children under 16 should not be riding on adult ATVs. Anyone who rides an ATV should don a helmet. And guess what single-rider ATVs were designed for. Yes, a single rider. That means one. 
 

To read more about the safest way to use ATVs, see the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s dedicated Web site.

Photo: INFPhoto.com

Trick or treatment—don’t spend Halloween in the ER

Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, so it promises to be a big night for trick-or-treaters who may stay out later than usual. It’s a good night for fright and fun, but it’s also a big night for accidents. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of deaths among young pedestrians (ages 5 to 14) is four times higher on Halloween evening that any other evening of the year. Drivers should be extremely cautious on Halloween.

This Halloween I’ll be doing the following to keep my children and our friends and neighbors safe. Feel free to borrow these tips.

First, I’m making sure that the pathway to my front door is well lit and not strewn with wet leaves, flower pots, garden hoses, or any other obstacle that could cause a nasty fall.
  
My jack-o-lantern and luminaries will be lit with electric candles this year since real candles can set costumes on fire. 
 
I made sure my decorative Halloween lights have a UL-listed label on the cord. The one outside has the appropriate red UL holographic label, while the one inside the house has a green holographic label.
 
My kids think this is “lame,” but I’m taking the advice of one of our readers and doling out mini flashlights along with some candy. They cost me about a dollar each including the AA battery but it’s well worth it. If kids use them, drivers may be able to see them better in the dark, and all kids like flashlights. The Halloween flashlights I'm handing out are not the same flashlights recalled by Target. However, I cut the looped string off the lights I bought because I feared that could pose a strangulation hazard.  
 
My older daughter wants to venture out with a group of friends this year. She’ll be carrying a cell phone so that she can check in with me regularly. Both children will carry flashlights and identification.

We’re all looking forward to a night of fright and fun and staying out of the ER. Happy Halloween! —Don Mays

More Halloween safety tips

• DWI incidents spike on Halloween
• Hey kids, don't mess up when you dress up
• Trick-or-treat safety tips for pedestrians and drivers
• Hidden Halloween hazards
  
• How to choose a safe costume

How to avoid a chain saw massacre—or mishap

Haunted hayrides have become as much a part of Halloween as trick-or-treating. As the hay wagon moves slowly through the darkness, every manner of man and beast jumps into its path eliciting screams of terror from those on board. But these days instead of a witch with a broom, the ghouls are more likely to be brandishing a buzzing chain saw.

Even though the chain saws used at these events are fake or defanged, they still conjure up images of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and other movies of mayhem. But that's not what scares us. Instead, we're thinking, "Shouldn't that chain saw have a bar-tip guard? And shouldn't the local "Leatherface" be wearing protective gear?"

Of course, the hayrides are all in good fun but every year real chain saws cause 36,000 injuries and 20 deaths so it's important to treat them with respect. Kickback—where the tip of the saw snaps up and back toward the user—is involved in one in four of those injuries, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Modern chain saws are built with safety in mind and following these tips can increase your chance of remaining unscathed when you use one.

• Wear eye and ear protection, gloves, tight-fitting clothing, cut-resistant leg chaps, boots, and a hard hat with a protective face screen.
• Keep the cutting chain properly sharpened, tensioned, and oiled.
• Grip the saw with both hands and keep both feet firmly on the ground.
• Saw only tree limbs you can reach from the ground. Never saw on a ladder or while holding the saw above your shoulders.
• Avoid sawing with the tip of the chain and bar, where kickback typically occurs.
• Carry saws safely. Use a bar sheath or carrying case to protect yourself and the bar and chain.
• And remember, some jobs are better left to the pros.

As Halloween draws closer, we'll be offering more safety tips. As for that Headless Horseman who rides through nearby Sleepy Hollow each year, shouldn't he be carrying a flashlight instead of that candle-lit jack-o'-lantern?

Generator safety: Deaths from CO poisoning on the rise

Deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with the use of  portable generators are increasing, according to new information released by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

There were 85 carbon monoxide poisoning deaths attributed to the use of generators in 2006, the year covered in the latest CPSC study. The estimated number of generator-related CO fatalities doubled in 2005 and 2006 from the two prior years, with a combined estimate of 182 fatalities in 2005 and 2006 compared to an estimated 92 in 2003 and 2004, the agency reported. One reason for the sharp spike in 2005 was likely a high number of severe weather events that caused widespread power outages, including hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Non-weather related CO fatalities associated with generator use are also on the rise—by 53 percent from 2004 to 2005, and another 41 percent  from 2005 to 2006. In contrast to 2005, the busiest hurricane season since records have been kept, there were no hurricanes that made landfall in the U.S. in 2006.

Recently, Underwriters Laboratories asked us to help get the word out on generator safety and to call attention to its first standard for portable generators, which took effect in March. The standard—UL 2201—addresses hazards associated with the typical use of generators, primarily those related to CO poisoning.

According to UL, the new performance requirements facilitate safe outdoor use of UL-listed portable generators during storms or poor weather conditions, as well as provide clear usage labels for consumers to help reduce the known risks of CO poisoning and electrocution.

Here are some tips on generator safety that our readers have found helpful..

• Never operate a generator indoors or in any enclosed or partially enclosed area—even if you think you can adequately ventilate the space.
• Keep generators away from windows, doors, air conditioners, and vents where gases can enter the house. Outside, always be conscious of where the exhaust gas is moving, and stay out of its path.
• Maintain working carbon-monoxide detectors throughout your home.
• Properly store and handle the gasoline. Never refuel the generator while it's running; stop the engine and allow it to cool first.
• Store gasoline safely. Keep it outside in a cool place away from the house or a heat source. Treat gas with a stabilizer (about $5 to treat 25 gallons) to preserve it for up to a year. And dispose of old fuel by using it in mowers and other outdoor equipment.
• Be sure the generator is properly grounded, and use extreme caution around wet electrical cords. Use a portable GFCI device with extension cords whenever you use your generator.
• Never connect a generator directly to a home's wiring. If the generator is used to power home circuits, always use a properly installed transfer switch (about $600 installed).
• Keep connections safe. For small generators, use extension cords rated for the wattage they're carrying.

For more information see our most recent report on generators including Ratings and recommendations.

Don't take a tumble while performing fall maintenance

With homeowners clambering up ladders to paint, clean gutters and perform other fall chores, the autumn months can be an especially dangerous time
 
Ladders play a big role in thousands of accidents around the home. A Consumer Reports analysis of data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission found more than 160 deaths and 170,000 injuries related to ladders in 2007, the latest year for which full data is available. And over the past five years, more than 500,000 ladders have been recalled "due to fall hazards."

We've written about ladder safety in the past and would like to remind our readers about the Dos and Don'ts of ladder use. The two examples at right are definite Don'ts.

Inspection and maintenance

• Keep ladders clean and dry. Wipe the ladder off after each use to prevent deterioration.
• Wear and tear can cause a ladder to fail. Check all types—aluminum, fiberglass and wood—for cracks, dents and missing components.
• Tighten reinforcing rods beneath steps and hinges, and check the lanyard on an extension ladder for deterioration.

Getting ready

• Set up your ladder on a firm, level surface. Use leg-levelers if necessary. Never stack objects, such as lumber or stones, beneath a ladder leg to level it.
• Lean a straight or extension ladder against a wall or other even, fixed object—never against a narrow tree or surface that cannot support both of the side rails.
• Set up an extension ladder with the base 1 foot away from the wall for every 4 feet the ladder reaches up--that's 3 feet at the base for a 12-foot ladder, or roughly a 75-degree angle.
• Use your stepladder only in the open, A-shaped position, never when folded. Make sure the spreaders are fully open and locked.
• Be sure that your extension ladder extends 3 feet beyond the roofline or work surface.
• When raising any extension ladder, be mindful of overhead power lines and other hazards. 
• Before climbing, inspect the area where you'll be working for insect and bird nests. Check the area from below with a pair of binoculars.

Ups and downs

• Use the right ladder for the job. Always select a height that doesn't require you to reach up or out in a way that destabilizes the ladder; keep your belt buckle centered between the rails. Don't use a stepladder to get to the roof.
• When doing electrical work or working near an electrical power line, use only a wooden or fiberglass ladder. And remember that any ladder can conduct electricity when it's wet.
• Don't allow anybody else on the ladder with you.
• Climb and descend slowly, facing the ladder and holding the side rails with both hands (keep tools in a tool belt).
• Keep both feet on the ladder and center your weight between the rails at all times.
• Don't try to move the ladder when you're standing on it or try to "walk" it into a new position. 
• Don't step above the labeled maximum height. Beyond that point, the odds of an accident increase significantly.

Essential reading. For more tips on sprucing up your home inside and out, read our Fall Cleanup Guide. Our Home & Garden blog also has helpful hints for homeowners.

Back-to-school safety checklist

On the same day that President Obama exhorted students to “get serious" and study, the Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, who was appointed by Obama, encouraged students and parents to get serious about safety.

Speaking at Rosewood Elementary School in Columbia, S.C. (Obama was at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va.), Inez Tenenbaum released a safety checklist and told parents and school officials to "make it a priority to check for hazards at home and at school.”

“It just takes a moment for a child to be seriously injured or even killed riding a bicycle, playing on the playground, using a movable soccer goal, wearing a jacket with a drawstring or by a recalled product,” said Tenenbaum. “Let’s keep kids in the classroom and out of the emergency room."

Here are the items on Tenenbaum's safety checklist:

Playgrounds
Each year, more than 200,000 hospital emergency room visits are related to playground injuries. Most injuries involve falls onto the playground surface or playground equipment.

• Check with school officials to make sure that the school’s playground equipment has been inspected and maintained.
• Check to see if there are at least nine inches of shock absorbing surface material around the school’s playground equipment.

Read more about playground safety on the Safety blog.

Bike helmets
The CPSC reports that an annual average of 80 children under 16 have died in bicycle-related incidents in recent years. About half of the 500,000 bicycle-related emergency room-treated injuries in 2008 involved children under 16.

• Make sure your child wears a helmet that meets CPSC requirements every time he/she bikes or rides a scooter to and from school.
• Make sure your child’s helmet fits snuggly, level on top of the head, with a buckled chin strap.

Read more about bike safety on Consumer Reports.

Drawstrings
Since 1985,the CPSC has received reports of 28 deaths and 71 non-fatal incidents involving the entanglement of children’s clothing drawstrings.

• Make sure that none of your child’s clothing has drawstrings at the hood or neck area.

Read more about drawstrings on the Safety blog.

Movable soccer goals
From 1998-2008, the CPSC has gotten reports of at least 8 deaths and an estimated 2,000 emergency department visits by children younger than 16 related to soccer goal tip-overs and structural failures.

• Check that all soccer goals are securely anchored while in use.

Read more about soccer goals on the Safety blog

Recalled products

• Check the CPSC’s Web site, www.cpsc.gov, to make sure all back to school purchases and previously owned items have not been recalled.
• Sign up at www.cpsc.gov to get e-mail alerts of recall announcements.

Read more about recalls on the Safety blog.

This week in safety: Recalls and a snow blower warning

For years, almost all gas snow blowers have included a handlebar lever that helps protect hands and fingers by stopping the snow-scooping auger when the lever is released. An exception: the Toro CCR Powerlite 38182, a small, $440 model that Toro has sold under different names since the 1980s. Although the 38182 and similar 38172 models were recently discontinued, approximately 4,000 units were available this season in stores and online, on Toro's Web site and elsewhere.

We believe the CCR Powerlite machines pose the same safety concerns as earlier versions and have given them our "Don't Buy: Safety Risk" judgment. We've also notified the Consumer Product Safety Commission and are asking for an investigation. If you already own the 38182, similar 38172, or earlier CR20E or CCR Powerlite, be sure to shut off the engine before clearing a clog. Use a tool or broom handle to clear any clogs, as you would with any snow blower.

Never step away while the machine is running. And keep children and pets far away while you're using it.

Safety news from the CR blogs

• Babies & Kids: Be aware of these household poisons
• Cars: Anti-texting video scares drivers straight
• Health: Choose safer fish to reduce mercury risk

Don't miss these recalls

• 5.7 million Durabrand DVD players (fire hazard)
• 216,000 Office Max swivel chairs (fall hazard)

Why we take intermittent test failures so seriously

As a testing organization with 73 years of experience, Consumer Reports has often come across products that fail our tests but do so only intermittently, not every time. That was the case most recently with the Orbit Infant System, a car-seat-and-stroller combination whose carrier detached from its base in two of six simulated 30-mph frontal crash tests. Readers of such a report may wonder how intermittent failures arise, and what they mean for consumers trying to make a decision about whether or not a product is safe. This blog addresses those questions and cites three recent examples to explain why we generally take such failures very seriously.
 
There are numerous reasons why products may fail only some of the time. Sometimes, safety standards call for a product to be tested in a variety of ways; the product may fail when used one way but pass when used another way. Test-to-test repeatability and lab-to-lab reproducibility can also contribute to variations in test results. Manufacturing variations may play a role in intermittent failures, as can changes in a product’s materials or design. So even under optimal conditions, it is not uncommon to see some variation in test results—up to and including situations in which some samples of a given model pass a test, while others fail.
 
But our point of view is that, when it comes to safety, no test failure is acceptable—and that’s especially so where child safety is concerned. Products should be designed with enough margin of safety that they pass each and every time.
 
One recent example: When we first tested the Baby Jogger City Mini stroller, we were troubled to find sporadic problems with the harness restraints. The voluntary industry standard specifies that the harness system must hold a test dummy in place even when the stroller is turned upside down. But in our tests, the results were inconsistent. In further testing, when we pulled directly outward on the buckle it held fast. But if we pulled sideways on the buckle, it could release with as little as two pounds of force.
 
When we shared those results with the manufacturer, it turned out that the company had already changed the design to put stronger buckles on newer strollers. Nevertheless, the Baby Jogger Company, working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, voluntarily recalled some 41,000 older strollers that had the earlier version of the buckles.

Meanwhile, Consumer Reports testers, who continually update our test procedures, have revised our stroller protocols to include the sideways pull test, even though it is not part of the industry standard test protocol. Reason: We want to anticipate problems that might arise under ordinary, real-world conditions, and not just in an industry or government test.

Another recent instance of intermittent failures: One of our testers was exercising on the Stamina model 1725 elliptical trainer when the left pedal of the machine came loose and fell to the floor. We later found that on both the Stamina 1725, and on the similar Stamina 1772, the bolts holding the pedals in place would sometimes work their way loose as the user pedaled the crank. The problem didn’t happen every time—but it happened often enough that we rated both machines a “Don’t Buy – Safety Risk.” And in July, the CPSC recalled both Stamina trainers.

Perhaps the most dramatic recent example of intermittent failure involved an outdoor gas grill called the Broil King Signet 90. As part of our standard testing, we always put several very fatty ribeye steaks on each grill at high heat in order to see if the dripping fat catches fire. Most top-rated grills flare up momentarily and then stop. But the Signet 90 flared up quite a bit, made a popping sound, and then black smoke came out from under the lid. The testers turned off the propane tank and pulled it out of the cabinet under the grill. But as they did, molten metal dripped down onto the area beneath the grill, just missing one tester's hand. The grill's firebox had melted.

We tested two more Signet 90 grills. In one of them, the firebox also melted. In the other it didn’t, but there was cracking and deformation. Yet we cautioned readers about the grill last year, and its maker, Onward Manufacturing of Canada, voluntarily recalled the model and sent buyers a kit intended to fix the problem. (As it happens, we also later criticized the kit).

The point of these three examples is that even when failures are intermittent, we pay serious attention to them if they affect your safety. We believe it is our responsibility to tell consumers that they face a potential risk. Our tests are not designed to explain *why* a product performed as it did; that’s a matter for the manufacturer and/or regulators to determine. Nor are we in a position to compel a manufacturer to make changes in design or even to recall a product, as, say, a government agency might. Moreover, our reporting on intermittent failures may mean government agencies and manufacturers don’t always agree with us. But it means we are fulfilling our responsibility to our only constituents: Consumers. The fact that a product fails only intermittently is not necessarily a good sign, in our view. We think buyers have a right to expect that the products they buy will be safe to use under real-world conditions each and every time.