The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is urging all businesses to adopt a new code designed to reduce the number of deaths and injuries from children swallowing button batteries in Australia.
“By selecting and designing consumer goods that comply with the industry code, retailers, importers and manufacturers can help to make button battery safety a fundamental design consideration across all consumer product categories. In doing so, there is no doubt that serious injuries will be prevented and lives will be saved,” said ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard.
“We’re pleased that this code is being led by business, it is an important initiative.”
The code also urges retailers to consider whether to sell goods containing coin-sized lithium batteries, and if they do, to make sure goods comply with the new safety requirements.
The code stipulates a number of safety mechanisms, including:
- design that means consumer goods are manufactured such that the batteries are not accessible to young children
- a battery compartment that requires two or more independent and simultaneous actions to remove its cover
Rickard said it is vital that businesses commit to the code in order to save lives.
