All consumer products have the potential to cause harm to users without adequate safety controls and monitoring of the product market. Studies reveal that in around 15% of incidents the injury could have been prevented by improved user instructions and/ or better design of the product. In half of these cases the injury was due to product malfunction.
Therefore, consumer product safety has been recognised as an effective means for preventing accidents and/ or reducing the risk of serious injury in case of an accident. It is evident that the health and safety of consumers is best protected by means of strict and common safety rules and standards for consumer products across Europe and worldwide.