03-18170. Petition Requesting Labeling of Weightlifting Bench Press Benches To Reduce or Prevent Deaths Due to Asphyxia/Anoxia (Petition No. CP 03-3)

AGENCY:

Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Commission has received a petition (CP 03-3) requesting that the Commission require labeling of weightlifting bench press benches to reduce or prevent deaths from asphyxia/anoxia due to being trapped beneath a bench press barbell. The Commission solicits written comments concerning the petition.

DATES:

The Office of the Secretary must receive comments on the petition by September 16, 2003.

ADDRESSES:

Comments on the petition, preferably in five copies, should be mailed to the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207, telephone [phone], or delivered to the Office of the Secretary, Room 501, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. Comments may also be filed by facsimile to [phone] or by email to [e-mail]. Comments should be captioned “Petition CP 03-3, Petition for Labeling of Bench Press Benches.” A copy of the petition is available for inspection at the Commission's Public Reading Room, Room 419, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland. The petition is also available on the CPSC Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rockelle Hammond, Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207; telephone [phone], e-mail [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Commission has received correspondence from V. Patteson Lombardi, Ph.D., requesting that the Commission require a warning label on both uprights of all “manufactured, publicly available” weightlifting bench press benches. The petitioner asserts that the labeling is necessary to reduce or eliminate deaths due to asphyxia/anoxia caused by being trapped under a bench press barbell. The petitioner provides information concerning a number of deaths he states involve such incidents.

The Commission is docketing the correspondence as a petition under provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2051-2084.

Interested parties may obtain a copy of the petition by writing or calling the Office of the Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207; telephone [phone]. The petition is available on the CPSC Web site at http://www.cpsc.gov. A copy of the petition is also available for inspection from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, in the Commission's Public Reading Room, Room 419, 4330 East-West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland.

Dated: July 10, 2003.

Todd A. Stevenson,

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.