What are voluntary standards?
Through collaboration with voluntary standard organizations (like ANSI, ASTM, CSA, UL, and others) safety standards are developed for consumer products. In many cases, these standards bring industry groups, government agencies, and consumer groups together to agree on best consumer product safety practices. Read more about what this may mean for manufacturers, and how standards can be used to help lead towards the development safe consumer products.
Voluntary Standards Summary Reports
The Voluntary Standards Summary Report is published twice a year and shows, among other things, product or product areas associated with the voluntary standards work, the name of the employee leading each activity, the name(s) and designation(s) of the standards associated with the product, the purpose of staff’s involvement, the reporting period activity, and staff’s next actions associated with the voluntary standard. The report is issued at the middle (mid-year report) and end (annual report) of the CPSC fiscal year, which runs from October 1 to September 30.
Consumer Participation is Welcomed
The development of a voluntary standard requires consumer input. Achieving a balanced perspective on a committee is often a challenge because consumer participants are difficult to recruit. If you are a consumer and you want to contribute to a voluntary standard or hear more about the development of an individual standard, please contact the Consumer Ombudsman.
Current Staff Activities in Voluntary Standards
- Architectural Glazing
- All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)
- Baby Monitors
- Bassinets/ Cradles
- Batteries (Button, Coin Cell, Lithium, Toy, and Electronic Devices)
- Bed Rails (Adult)
- Bedside Sleepers
- Bicycles
- Booster Seats
- Candles and Candle Accessories
- Changing Tables
- Child-Resistant Packaging (CRP)
- Clothes Dryers
- Constant-Air Inflatable Play Devices (for Home Use)
- Crib Bumpers
- Cribs (Non-Full-Size) and Play Yards
- Cribs (Commercial)
- Cribs (Full-Size)
- Fireworks
- Flammable Liquids (Containers/Material Handling)
- Flammable Refrigerants
- Folding Chairs and Stools (Children’s)
- Formaldehyde in MDF
- Formaldehyde in Particleboard
- Frame Child Carriers
- Fuel Tanks (Leakage)
- Furniture Tip Over
- Garage Door Operators
- Gas Ranges (Control Panels)
- Gasoline Containers (Child-Resistant Containers)
- Gasoline Containers (Flame Arresters)
- Gates and Other Enclosures
- Hand-Held Carriers
- Helmets (Recreational)
- High Chairs
- Hook-on Chairs
- Inclined Sleep Products
- Infant Bath Seats
- Infant Bath Tubs
- Infant Bouncers
- Infant Slings (Sling Carriers)
- Infant Swings
- Infant Walkers
- Liquid Laundry Packets
- Mattresses
- Mowers
- National Electrical Code (NEC)
- Nanotechnology
- Phthalates
- Playground Equipment (Home)
- Playground Equipment (Public)
- Portable Bed Rails (Children’s)
- Portable Fireplaces (Firepots and Unvented Alcohol Appliances)
- Portable Generators
- Power Equipment (formerly Table Saws)
- Ranges (Tip-Over)
- Recreational Off-Road Vehicles (ROVs)
- Smoke Alarms
- Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers
- Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation (Residential Off-Gas)
- Stationary Activity Centers
- Strollers
- Swimming Pools and Spas
- Tents
- Toddler Beds
- Torch Fuel and Lamp Oil
- Toys
- Upholstered Furniture
- Vented Gas Heating Appliances (CO Sensors) (Formerly Furnaces)
- Window Coverings (Blind Cords)
For more information on specific voluntary standards, or to purchase them, contacts these groups.
Staff Meetings Involving Voluntary Standards
Staff Correspondence Relating to Voluntary Standards
- 18 Proposed Revision of ASTM F2057-14 Safety Specification for Clothing Storage Units
- Letter to ASTM Amusment Ride Committee
- Letter To ASTM Inclined Sleep Products
- CPSC staff letter to ASTM F08.53 subcommittee on Sensors
- Letter from CPSC Staff to ASTM regarding Stationary Activity Centers
- Letter to ASTM Infant Bedding Subcommittee Regarding Recommended Revisions to F1917
- Letter to ASTM Furniture Age and Weight Task Group (August 2018)
- Letter to ASTM Furniture Age and Weight Task Group (October 2018)
- Consensus Paper - Trilateral Investigation into the Safety Hazards Associated with AC and USB Chargers (also called Adapters)
- CPSC Test Report - Early Consultation Initiative AC and USB Chargers Testing Procedures
- Letter to UL on AC and USB Chargers
- Letter to ROHVA, OPEI, SVIA
- Letter to ROHVA, SVIA, OPEI
- All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs)
- Batteries (Button, Coin Cell, Lithium, Toy, and Electronic Devices)
- Bicycles
- Candles and Candle Accessories
- Child-Resistant Packaging (CRP)
- Clothes Dryers
- Cribs (Full-Size)
- Frame Child Carriers
- Furniture Tip Over
- Garage Door Operators
- Gasoline Containers (Child-Resistant Containers)
- Gas Ranges
- Hand-Held Carriers
- Helmets (Recreational)
- Infant Bath Seats
- Infant Bouncers
- Infant Swings
- Infant Walkers
- Non-Metallic Fuel Tanks
- Phthalates
- Playground Equipment (Home)
- Playground Equipment (Public)
- Portable Generators
- Power Equipment (formerly Table Saws)
- Ranges (Tip-Over)
- Recreational Off-Road Vehicles (ROVs)
- Smoke Alarms
- Soft Infant and Toddler Carriers
- Strollers
- Swimming Pools and Spas
- Toys
- Upholstered Furniture
- Vented Gas Heating Appliances (CO Sensors) (Formerly Furnaces)
- Window Coverings (Blind Cords)