Consumer Product safety

SF Giants Slide Study

The study examined injuries reported by users of 4 different types of slides (2 big slides and 2 small slides), located in the AT&T park, for the years 2000 through 2006. An observational survey of the number of slide users was performed by JPR study group by attending the home games and tallying the number of trips taken by users during pre-game (one hour before the game starts), game and post-game (one hour after the game ends).

The slide users were grouped by age/gender groups (less than 12/male, greater than 12/female etc)and the type of shoes worn (sneaker/other types) was noted. Using the annual attendance for the 81 home games and game time slide usage, JP Research estimated the number of slide trips taken by each age/gender group, for the years 2000-2006. The risk of injury per million slide trips was then estimated for each age/gender group, using the number of reported injuries and number of estimated trips. The injury risks were calculated for all the years combined (2000-2006) and for each year separately to check if there was an elevated risk of injury riding the slides for one year.

The risk of injury to a slide user at the AT&T park was then compared to the risk of injury to users of playground slides, obtained from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) data on injury reports for slides. The study concluded that using the slides presented an extremely low risk of injury compared to the risk associated with other activities.

Elevator/Escalator Study

JP Research performed a study to examine injuries and fatalities associated with elevators and escalators. As part of this study, JP Research compared the injury risk of riding elevators/escalators with the injury risk associated with motor vehicles, stairs and automatic doors to put the risk in perspective. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) data was used to derive the number of injuries associated with the selected products and CPSC product summary reports, incident investigations and death certificates were used to examine the nature of injury by age and gender.

Data on number of riders using elevators/escalators was obtained from the Elevator/Escalator Safety Foundation and elevator industry statistics. The number of automatic door openings was obtained from the American Association of Automatic Door Manufacturers and the number of vehicle miles travelled was obtained from the Traffic Safety Facts issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). To estimate the number of stairs climbed, JP Research performed a survey of about 100 people, at different sites (home/work)and extrapolated a national average of number of stairs climbed. The injury risk per million rides of elevators/escalators was compared to the risk associated with other products.

In addition, using the CPSC data, a study was performed to identify the accident modes and examine the nature of injury while riding an elevator or escalator. Some of the more significant accident modes of riding elevators include: caught in elevator door or fell in elevator. The study concluded that the injury risk for riding elevators/escalators is a very low rate of 96 injuries per billion rides.

Comparative Risk of Fatality for Children

JP Research performed a study to compare the risk of fatality to children exposed to airbags and other products and activities. As part of this study, the motor vehicle crash data, maintained by NHTSA was used to identify the number of children killed due to airbag exposure. The center for Disease Control (CDC) data was used to identify the number of children fatalities associated with drowning, bicycling and firearms. Using census data and other types of exposure data, the risk of fatality to children was calculated for various activities and the risks were compared to the risk associated with airbag exposure. The study concluded that the risk of fatality to a child exposed to an airbag is extremely small compared to the risk associated with other products and activities.