New Code for Button Batteries in Australia

On July 29, 2016, the Australian Toy Association (ATA) published a new Industry Code relating to consumer products containing button batteries. The new Code seeks to minimize the potential hazards associated with children swallowing coin-sized lithium cells.

If a button battery becomes lodged in the esophagus, the residual electrical energy in the cell can combine with the young child’s saliva to create tissue-burning hydroxides. This can lead to perforation of the esophagus wall, formation of fistulas (passages between organs or into blood vessels), or vocal cord paralysis unless the battery is removed within two hours.
The child might not display any immediate symptoms and so it is difficult for parents to recognize the problem, which had caused serious injuries and a number of deaths in recent years.

The Code prescribes these three essential requirements for affected products:
• The product – and the packaging for any replacement batteries provided – is designed and manufactured so that the batteries are inaccessible to young children when subjected to normal use, or reasonable foreseeable misuse
• The battery compartment
o is secured (preferably with a captive screw, a bolt or other mechanism) in a way that requires a tool to gain access to the batteries
o requires two or more independent and simultaneous actions to be removed
• A warning statement is visible at the point of sale to advise consumers that the product requires button batteries to operate, and that they are hazardous

Although the Code is voluntary, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) may use it to judge compliance with the Australian Consumer Law requirement that products be fit for purpose and safe.

SGS Toy Services
SGS offers product safety consultation and the associated testing services (including physical/mechanical, chemical, flammability, and electrical safety) across its global network. Covering the full spectrum of international and regulatory standards for a wide range of toys, the company’s laboratories are recognized by major industry associations, accreditation bodies and authorities worldwide. The SGS global network of toy experts and testing facilities includes three EU Notified Bodies and about forty CPSC-Accepted Testing Laboratories. Learn more about SGS’s Toy Services (www.sgs.com/toys)

SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the full Australia Publishes an Industry Code for Consumer Goods that Contain Button Batteries SafeGuardS. (www.sgs.com/en/news/2016/08/safeguards-13816-australia-publishes-an-industry-code-for-consumer-goods)

Subscribe here, www.sgs.com/subscribesg, to receive SGS SafeGuardS direct to your inbox.

For further information contact:
Kelly Peng
Consumer and Retail
Tel: +86 755 25328888 ext. 8615
Email: cts.media@sgs.com
Website: www.sgs.com/toys

About SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 85,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,800 offices and laboratories around the world.

1, Mons Calpe
Chitcombe Road
Broad Oak
Rye
East Sussex
TN31 6EU

This release was published on openPR.