The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) carried out an
investigation of reported finger injuries, including
amputations, and the characteristics of domestic
paper shredders
that might have contributed to those injuries. The National
Electronics Injury Surveillance System (NIESS) database
collected 23 reported finger injuries attributable to domestic
paper shredders.
The ages of the victims ranged from 14 months upwards. Of the 23
reported finger injuries caused by a domestic
paper shredder
mechanism, fifteen involved children aged 5 years and under.
However, finger injuries from domestic
paper shredders
have been reported in victims of 20 years old and even 65 years
old. This report was published in December 2004.
The most severe injuries, amputations, involved children. Injury
occurred even when a child was feeding paper into a
shredder under
adult supervision but did not release the paper in time to
prevent their fingers from entering the
shredder opening.
As the
paper shredder
continued to pull the paper into the
shredder opening,
it also pulled in the children's
fingers.
Since most
paper
shredders have auto start features, a child can be at risk
even when an adult is present. A child may insert a piece of
paper into the
shredder opening and activate the
shredder
mechanism, allowing it to pull the paper (and possibly the
child's fingers) into the
shredder. Children
are not conscious of hazards to themselves and may not let go of
the paper as it is being pulled in.
Paper shredders
can pose a risk of finger injury to children as young as 15
months because of their small finger size. With no force
applied, a child's finger would be unlikely to penetrate the
shredder opening
since their finger diameter is typically larger than a
paper shredder
opening. However, depending on the design of the
shredder, the
shredder opening
may
enlarge as the
shredder pulls in the paper and child's fingers. The height
of a 15-month-old can be more than twice the height of a
domestic
paper
shredder, putting them within easy reach of the
paper shredder
opening.
The International standard that applies to
paper shredders is
IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission). The methods of
testing the safety of
shredders has in the past involved the use of a probe which
was meant to represent the dimensions
of the fingers of a twelve year old child. The probe was not
designed or intended to determine the risk of injury to younger
children.
The
shredders that
were tested prior to the report produced by the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission were on sale for between $20 and $70.
The design characteristics of domestic
paper shredders
that may contribute to the danger to toddlers include the width
of the opening r "throat", the stiffness of the material from
which the
shredder
"throat" is constructed, the distance from the opening to the
cutting mechanism and the pulling power of the shredding
mechanism. In general, the
crosscut shredders
tested allowed larger diameter probes to pass through the
shredder "throat"
than the
strip cut
shredders that were tested. Since
crosscut shredders
require more power to shred paper the motors were consistently
more powerful and this would pull a child's fingers in more
easily. None of the
shredders tested had a separate On/Off switch separate from
the Auto / Forward / Reverse functions. Critical safety
information was not universally displayed on all models and some
had no warnings at all at the
shredder "throat".
Some
shredders did
not show contrasting colours for
the switches which may be a safety concern if it should become
necessary to turn off a
shredder or put it
into reverse in an emergency.
Some of the observations given by the U.S.CPSC can be summarised
as follows:-
•
Cross cut shredders
allowed thicker rigid rods to enter the
shredder throat
than did
strip cut
shredders
•
Cross cut shredders
were more powerful and thus more likely to pull in a child's
fingers
•
Cross cut shredders
allowed the smallest compressible probe to enter the
shredder throat
•
Cross cut shredders
allowed larger compressible probes to enter the
shredder throat
•Only some
shredders
had an OFF position on the function switch
•No
shredder
tested had a separate ON/OFF switch separate from the
Auto/Forward/Reverse functions
•Not all
shredders
carried the same hazard
markings at the
shredder "throat"
•Some
shredders
did not have contrasting colours for the hazard markings
•Some
shredders
did not have contrasting colours for the function markings
The CPSC came to some conclusions on the samples tested, but
pointed out that this was not a statistical sampling or a sample
of all types of
paper
shredders:-
•
Paper shredders
pose the greatest threat of finger injuries to children between
the ages of 15 months and 2½ years (based on incident data)
•The level of risk depends on the design of the
shredder opening
or "throat"
•Current testing (as at December 2004) did not related to
hazards involving small children
•The design of the
shredder "throat" determines the amount of force required to
insert a probe into the
shredder. These
factors include width of opening,
stiffness of opening, distance from opening to
shredder
mechanism, compressibility of fingers and the pulling force of
the
shredder
involved.
The researchers called for domestic
paper shredder
manufacturers to redesign the
shredders to
improve safety aspects and for them to carry clear warnings
directly on the machines. The authors also recommended that
paediatricians ask parents whether they have a
paper shredder in
the home and if so to advise them to leave it unplugged and out
of reach and to never allow a child to use the
shredder, even
when an adult is present.
David Jenkins, of the Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents was recently quoted by Sarah Womack, of The Daily
Telegraph as saying "I am not aware of a problem in this country
yet but with the increasing popularity of
paper shredders -
and if similar designs are available here as in America -
accidents are likely to happen".
Vincent Woodall is the sales and marketing manager of AB
Technology (London) Ltd (ABT). ABT are authorised dealers for
over 300 models of
shredder from 9 major manufacturers. Find them at
www.abt-shredders.co.uk
