The new proposals are part of Reese’s Law, a piece of US legislation brought in last year following the death of Reese Hamsmith, an 18 month-old girl who died in Texas in 2020 after ingesting a coin battery from a TV remote.
The proposed rules were published by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and contain requirements to ensure consumer electronics products sold in the US that use button cell or coin Batteries are child-resistant for children under six.
The proposed requirements for products containing removable batteries are:
1. Button cell or coin battery must meet the accessibility test
2. Battery compartments must meet the pre-conditioning requirements and abuse tests
3. Battery compartment enclosures must be secured such that they require a tool or minimum of two independent and simultaneous hand movements to open the battery compartment
For non-removable batteries, button cell or coin battery must be made inaccessible to children by:
1. Using a battery compartment meeting the performance requirements for removable batteries, or
2. Securing the button cell or coin battery using soldering, fasteners or equivalent means, that meet the secureness test
The proposed rule also requires the use of warning labels for products and packaging containing button cell or coin batteries. Some coin batteries, including zinc-air batteries, that are not harmful if swallowed by an infant are exempt from the proposed rules.
CPSC said interested parties have until mid-March to submit their comments about the new rules.