From our president

This monthly letter to subscribers from Consumer Reports' president, Jim Guest, highlights the critical consumer issues behind our current reports. See archived letters.

It has been one year since a veil began to be lifted. In March 2011 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission launched a consumer-friendly database, at www.saferproducts.gov, that lets people report product-safety issues and makes the reports public and easily searchable.

Before then, complaints to the CPSC were largely hidden while they were investigated. The new database lets you check for safety issues before you buy, file a safety complaint about a product you own, and learn whether others have had the same problem. A strong consumer law enacted in 2008 created the database, setting the stage for a change to the old system.

Now your single report not only reaches the CPSC but is also forwarded to the manufacturer and posted for other consumers to read.

We see a pattern
Safety groups, including Consumer Reports, are digging into the database. It was one of the first sources our reporters turned to for an investigative article in this issue on appliance fires (see Appliance fires: Is your home safe?). The database had more than 850 reports of fires or fire hazards involving about a dozen types of common appliances.

SaferProducts.gov also helps us understand which products present serious hazards to our children. Kids In Danger, a nonprofit that works to make children's products safer, analyzed the database at the four-month mark. It found that some 20 percent of the entries involved kids' products or injuries to kids. Among them were complaints about already recalled toys and children's products with loose screws and breaking parts. Getting those out of homes quickly can literally save life and limb.

The database can be one of the best safety resources available. Your complaints will be visible in a whole new way—to other consumers, to safety groups, and to the press.