Changes in Recall Process Demand Product Safety Education

By Howard Aughinbaugh

As the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) seek greater influence over product safety issues and mandatory recall authority, it is critical that you are doing everything you can to ensure that your company’s recall policies and product safety procedures are up to date with new and pending regulations. While reviewing recently enacted and still pending legislation is a good start, a thorough education and peer-to-peer discussion of key issues is essential to ensuring your product safety and recall strategies meet the increased expectations of the regulators who will be watching your every step.

In light of this ever-changing regulatory environment, product safety professionals would be wise to ramp up their product safety education by enrolling in informational seminars and courses designed to help understand critical elements in the product safety process.

One such opportunity is Saint Louis University’s Certificate in Product Safety Management program. The 2011 Spring session will soon close its registration. The course, being offered by the university’s Center for Supply Chain Management Studies, aims to assist safety professionals in the development of tools and techniques to improve their ability to support their companies on product safety issues.

The 2011 program will feature valuable additions and modifications from the 2010 pilot program, including more opportunities for students to make product safety presentations to their peers and solicit feedback on improvement. Topics covered in the program will include national and international compliance and regulation, supply chain, product recall and product retrieval management, product safety in retailing and manufacturing, and risk assessment.

ExpertRECALL, like your company, is committed to product safety and consumer safety. And as regulators increasingly flex their recall muscles, we want to help you make sure your team is ready for the regulatory scrutiny. That’s why we are pleased to announce that we are funding two full scholarships for the Certificate in Product Safety Management program. 

The course will begin on January 24, 2011. Any full-time product safety professional employed by a manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler or importer is eligible to apply. In light of current economic conditions and budget challenges, we hope that these scholarships will help you and your company to participate in this program. We will announce the winners of our scholarships by January 17, 2011.

In this ever-changing regulatory environment, education and preparation are the keys to success. And we want your company and its employees to succeed.

Stericycle ExpertRECALL™ is the industry leader in recall logistics and regulatory compliance for consumer product, pharmaceutical, medical device, juvenile product, and food and beverage recalls. ExpertRECALL’s professionals are experts in recall management who can help you streamline the entire product recall process.