New Federal Safety Rule To Be Imposed for Hair Dryers

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has established a new federal safety rule requiring the inclusion of an immersion protection device in handheld hair dryers, beginning thirty days after publication of the notice of final rulemaking in the Federal Register. No specific date for final rulemaking publication has been identified. Background
In November 2002, the CPSC Office of Compliance issued a letter to manufacturers and importers of handsupported hair dryers, indicating the CPSC considered handheld hair dryers to present a substantial hazard if they did not have immersion protection as required by UL 859, Standard for Household Electric Personal Grooming Appliances. Professional hair dryers were also referenced in this letter. After reviewing hazard and injury information, as well as public comments from interested parties, the CPSC issued a proposal in May 2011 for handheld hair dryers, requiring integral immersion protection for both personal and commercial devices.

Requirements
The new requirement will be referenced in 16 CFR Part 1120 and require the presence of integral immersion protection in compliance with the requirements of UL 859 for residential devices, or the requirements of UL 1727 for commercial devices. The CPSC estimates that manufacturer compliance with the proposed requirements is in excess of 95 percent of applicable products. Products that are in compliance with the specified UL requirements would also be in compliance with the new regulation. All product will need to be in compliance with the regulation no later than 30 days from the issuance of the final regulation in the Federal Register (date undefined).

Additional Information
Text of the 2010 Federal Register Notice: http://frwebgate1.access.gpo.gov/cgibin/PDFgate.cgi?WAISdocID=hbxbT8/13/2/0&WAISaction=retrieve

How Can Bureau Veritas Help? If you have any questions or need assistance with any of your electrical or electronics testing requirements, please contact your customer service representative or email cps.info@us.bureauveritas.com

Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, Inc. (BVCPS) provides the information in this client bulletin as a resource of general information. It does not replace any applicable legal or regulatory requirements and is provided as is. BVCPS will not be liable for any indirect, special, punitive, consequential or other damages (including without limitation lost profits) of any kind in connection with this client bulletin. BVCPS DISCLAIMS ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, IN CONNECTION WITH THIS CLIENT BULLETIN. Copyright 2011 Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. June 2011, Bulletin 11B-129