Agency fines K mart, Toys 'R' Us for selling hazardous B-T-S sets - Consumer Product Safety Commission fines stores for selling back-to-school kits containing a razor blade cutting knife

Discount Store News, Jan 29, 1990 by Deane Evans

Agency Fines Kmart, Toys `R' Us For Selling Hazardous B-T-S Sets

WASHINGTON -- K mart and Toys "R" Us agreed to pay fines of $60,000 each to the Consumer Products Safety Commission to settle charges that the chains sold desk and stationary products which are potentially dangerous to children.

Both cases involved sets designed for sale to school-aged children which included razor blade cutting knife components. In separate complaints against the two chains, CPSC alleged that the sharp retractable cutting knives were "inappropriate for children under 10 years of age because youngsters do not possess the requisite physical dexterity to use this tool in a safe manner."

In the K mart case, CPSC further charged that the product packaging "neither indicates that the set includes a razor blade cutting knife nor provides a cautionary warning as to the appropriate age of the intended user."

According to CPSC, in July 1988, K mart imported 48,000 School Days Scissors Desk Sets which contained scissors, a pencil sharpener and a razor blade cutting tool. Later that month, the chain reviewed "the potential safety problem" posed by the product and instructed all K mart stores to remove the product from sale. However, the discount chain did not advise the general public of the corrective action and, in both July and August, consumers complained that children had received lacerations from the product.

In agreeing to the settlement with CPSC, K mart officials contended that the desk sets sold by the chain contained no defect which would create "a substantial product hazard" and denied "any fault, liability or statutory violation." However they agreed to pay the $60,000 civil penalty upon final acceptance of the settlement agreement.

The similar Toys "R" Us case involved 9,600 Submarine Stationery Sets imported and sold in 1987. The submarine-shaped sets were made of plastic and contained drawers and attachments housing a tape dispenser, pencil sharpener, scissors and razor blade cutting knife.

Unlike the K mart product the Toys "R" Us sets carried label warnings indicating that the product was designed for children five years of age and older. However, CPSC charged that despite this labeling, the product was defective because the knife component was inappropriate for children under age 10.

Although Toys "R" Us officials began a "stop sale and recall" program in December 1987, they did not inform the general public of the action, and subsequently received complaints that the razor cutting knife was used by children to destroy furniture and property.

Although Toys "R" Us officials accepted the CPSC's provisional settlement agreement, they denied any fault, violation of the law or liability. CPSC reported that the toy chain provisionally agreed to pay a civil penalty of $60,000 "to avoid costly litigation and to otherwise effect a compromise resolution of this matter."