November is Product Safety Inspection Campaign Month

Overview

There are about 1,000 serious product accidents every year, of which about 30% are not caused by the product itself, but by wrong use or carelessness by the consumer. These accidents can be prevented by cleaning and inspecting products and reconfirming how to use them properly. Product accidents can also be avoided by not using products that have been recalled.
In preparation for a year-end cleanup, we are calling for general product inspections to prevent product accidents.
This year, we will raise awareness of product safety and implement various related measures, such as deploying panel displays at various METI bureaus nationwide, in addition to holding product safety events for elementary school students for the first time.
In addition, we will cooperate with local municipalities and companies that won a PS Award to enhance the communication with consumers by providing information about recalls and precautions for using products correctly, and alert people throughout the country to product accidents.

1. Efforts by METI

(1) Awareness-raising activities related to product safety on the METI website

• Product Safety Inspection Campaign Month website (Only in Japanese)

(2) Posters on product safety

METI will use easy-to-understand illustrations to explain precautions when using products.
In addition to the standard version, there will be another version as part of a collaboration with Black Channel, a comic serialized in the monthly magazine CoroCoro Comic, specially prepared for some PS Award winners and municipalities.

• Product Safety Inspection Campaign Month Poster (Standard version) (Only in Japanese)(PDF:1,283KB)

(3) Product safety events for elementary school students (New)

METI will hold product safety events at about 300 electrical appliance stores nationwide in cooperation with companies that have won a PS award or declared their active engagement in product safety. Participants will receive a Black Channel collaboration writing mat.

Date:

Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays starting on November 5, 2022 (Sat.)
Note: Dates will be decided by each store

• Event website (Only in Japanese)

(4) Product safety awareness booklets

The booklet Unko Ouchi no Anzen Drill (Seihin Anzen Hen) (PDF:13,449KB)  will be available at some stores owned by Nitori Holdings Co., Ltd. The booklet teaches children about product safety in an entertaining manner.

(5) Product Safety Awards 2022

[Date]

November 29 (Tue.), 2022, afternoon (time TBA)

[Venue]

Seiryo Kaikan (2-16-2, Nagatacho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)

1. The 16th Best Contributors to Product Safety Awards (2022 PS Awards) ceremony
   Awards will be given to top runners in Japan who are actively engaged in product safety.
2. Presentation by winners
3. Presentations by the following two Gold Medal Winning Companies

• YKK AP Inc.
• Accuphase Laboratory, Inc.

The award ceremony will be streamed live on the Nikkei Channel. It will also be uploaded to the YouTube channel of the ministry in charge at a later date.

(6) Announcement by newspaper ads

[Publications]

Asahi Shimbun Digital, five main newspapers, three block newspapers (Hokkaido Shimbun, Tokyo and Chunichi Shimbun, and Nishinippon Shimbun), and 65 regional newspapers

[Publication period]

Third week of November (from November 21 [Mon.] to 27 [Sun.])

(7) Radio announcement

[Program name]

60-second announcement during Sunday Collection with Aoki Genta and Adachi Rika

[Broadcast date]

October 30 (Sun.), from 7:30 to 7:55 (TOKYOFM)
Note: The announcement will be aired by 38 stations with TOKYO FM operating as the key station.

(8) Efforts by METI bureaus (Appendix 1)

Raising awareness of Product Safety Inspection Campaign Month through posters and websites

2. Efforts by NITE

Holding a course titled Basic Knowledge on Product Safety Measures in Businesses
In this course, explanations will be given on product safety authorities, trends in product accidents, examples of accidents, methods of surveying accidents, risk assessment, preventing accidents due to wrong use, and the use of information on accidents.

[Schedule]

Class on basics: October 7 (Fri.), 2022, from 13:00 to 17:10 [Ended]
Class on risk assessment: December 16 (Fri.), 2022
Class on Accident Analysis: February 3 (Fri.), 2023
See for details: NITE Website

<Contact>

Product Safety and Public Relations Division, NITE Product Safety Technology Center
Phone (Direct): 06-6612-2066

3. Cooperation with local governments and private companies

1. Raising awareness with posters by local governments and private companies (Appendix 2)
2. Efforts related to product safety by various private companies (Appendix 3)

Related materials (Only in Japanese)

• Appendix 1: List of awareness-raising activities by METI bureaus(PDF:143KB)
• Appendix 2: List of endorsing private companies, local governments, and others(PDF:148KB)
• Appendix 3: Various companies' efforts(PDF:231KB)

Division in Charge

Product Safety Division, Industrial and Product Safety Policy Group