Apple AirTag removed from sale in some Australian stores, due to Child Safety chocking hazard regulations.

[Dirtyshado]

Summary

 

Due to AirTag's removable button battery, some stores in Australia have voluntarily removed Apple AirTags from sale.

This is a new law introduced in December 2020 (which is voluntary now, mandatory after June 2022), that requires stores to report suspected button battery hazards and not sell them until they are confirmed safe by the Federal regulator.

 

Quotes

Quote

“The product will not be stocked by Officeworks until further guidance is provided from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Officeworks continues to work with Apple to address any safety concerns.”

Quote

"AirTag is designed to meet international child safety standards, including those in Australia, by requiring a two step push-and-turn mechanism to access the user-replaceable battery,” Apple (Australia)

My thoughts

So how easy is it to twist and pop off the battery compartment on the tags, someone felt it must of been too easy and a child could do it, to pull a popular product from the shelf.

The child safety regulation is working as intended and its good to see stores pro actively asking for advice.

 

So the results are if the risk is considered valid by the regulator

a) AirTag won't be sold in Australia

b) Apple has to modify the design with a locking screw.

c) Other countries may also start reviewing and removing them from sale.

 

Sources

https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/officeworks-stops-selling-apple-airtags-due-to-child-safety-concerns-regarding-the-battery/news-story/361880c0dc6c13b360ad410020382ecb

 

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2021/05/more-australian-retailers-quietly-remove-apple-airtags-including-jb-hi-fi/

[RejZoR]

Oh Australia... In country where literally every living creature wants to kill you, but they get all anal about a small gadget being a potential choking hazard.

[givingtnt]

I mean, I figured people would air tag their children but this is excessive !

[sub68]

this reminds me when australla ban on knifes with thumb studs but normal pocket knifes are ok

[StDragon]

1 hour ago, sub68 said:

this reminds me when australla ban on knifes with thumb studs but normal pocket knifes are ok

That just made Crocodile Dundee very sad.

[Guest]

>child doesn't die from swallowing battery

>child gets drop kicked by a kangaroo into a venomous spider's web and swallowed by random snake

[Arika]

I think apple users would be happy with this move, after all they do enjoy a good arbitrary restriction under the guise of "protecting people".

 

Just now, Den-Fi said:

>child gets drop kicked by a kangaroo into a venomous spider's web and swallowed by random snake

that's my third Sunday of every month.

[sub68]

1 hour ago, StDragon said:

That just made Crocodile Dundee very sad.

I will agree

[dizmo]

Haha that's almost as ridiculous as the US ban on Kinder Surprise. Better ban the sale of packets of screws too... 

[lostcattears]

This is getting stupid... 

[JoseGuya]

Next up: coins banned on choking hazards in children

[JediFragger]

On 5/6/2021 at 4:22 PM, StDragon said:

That just made Crocodile Dundee very sad.

That's. Not. A. Knife.

[JediFragger]

GET IN MA BELLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Heliian]

1 hour ago, lostcattears said:

This is getting stupid... 

Not really, the Australian laws that are coming into force in 2022 are designed to prevent child harm and apply to all products with coin batteries and coin batteries themselves.

I had a look at the relevant laws and all apple has to do is have the air tags tested to a standard by one of the listed approved agencies.  

If Apple has the documentation already they can easily submit it for approval. 

I didn't see which standard Apple claims they were tested to, they said "international standards" I'm going to assume it wasn't on the Australian list.

 

They will test them and find out, better buy them up now australia! 

 

[Jtalk4456]

On 5/6/2021 at 4:32 AM, Dirtyshado said:

a) AirTag won't be sold in Australia

just to clarify, the article you posted didn't say they won't be sold, just that they are temporarily off shelves so the governing body can certify the product as safe and/or put any warnings on it. the gizmodo article even said apple's two step mechanism for opening the battery compartment meets the legal requirements. So this is just a temporary make sure it's good to go thing. I think this is good, safety is important. People can wait a few months to order them, they've gone their whole lives without it up to this point

[Maticks]

Wow this took so long for us to do lol. coin batteries bad, coins good. lego fine. they added a few years ago watch batteries in this really tough plastic you can't even cut it with scissors. The only option is using a lighter to melt it enough to then cut it with scissors.

I don't know who these children are that are mistaking a watch battery for food? do they need to make the Airtag bigger in Australia because it could be mistaken as a watch battery and swallowed? molly coddle Australian laws.. 

 

[CarlBar]

Button battery swollowings are a thing with small children and the effects are really freaking horrific. I don't recommend googling it but the TLDR, mucus is conductive and as a result it can setup an electrically driven reaction that can burn a hole through the lining of the throat. There was a story about them in the UK a couple of years back and there where several children featured in the story that now had to be fed via a tube years later because of the permanent throat damage. 

 

They're far worse than just a choking hazard.

[Bombastinator]

Hmm.  The thing itself is big to swallow but a cr2302 isnt. Tile would likely use something pretty similar on their removable battery ones.  Not all their stuff is removable battery through.

 

Occurs to be that basically all motherboards also use cr2302s would this make any atx desktop PC a problem  too?

Edited May 8, 2021 by Bombastinator

[Arika]

2 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

Occurs to be that basically all motherboards also use cr2302s would this make any atx desktop PC a problem  too?

Not likely, given how hard it would be for a child to get into a PC case, root around specifically for the battery (which is likely going to be under a shroud or a GPU), pull it out and eat it.

[Bombastinator]

24 minutes ago, Arika S said:

Not likely, given how hard it would be for a child to get into a PC case, root around specifically for the battery (which is likely going to be under a shroud or a GPU), pull it out and eat it.

Fair enough.  So it’s not just existence it’s ease of access.  Seems to me Apple Australia could solve this one by shrinkwrapping the things with something clear and tough.  It would Make em waterproof too if they aren’t already.  Won’t be able to get the battery out without cutting the shrink wrap.  There’s possibly something wrong with that that I’m not thinking of.  

[mikeyw64]

everyone else in the world :: Apple give us replaceable batteries in your kit

Aussies: strewth sheila get that sealed up, young bobby might choke on it!

[Bombastinator]

13 minutes ago, mikeyw64 said:

everyone else in the world :: Apple give us replaceable batteries in your kit

Aussies: strewth sheila get that sealed up, young bobby might choke on it!

They might have a point.  The US went through its own thing with safety packaging after that asshat in the 90’s who went around pulling apart Tylenol pills, filling them with poison, sealing them all up and putting them back on the shelves. A lot of security packaging was just making things not come apart.  The vitamin industry had a major innovation for that: if you run a capsule through a pill coating machine it glues the ends of the caps together.  You don’t even need to buy new equipment.  All Apple would have to do is send some extra tough shrink wrap material out to its Apple stores.  They’ve probably already got shrink wrap machines in back.  Most retailers do. 

[NineEyeRon]

12 hours ago, lostcattears said:

This is getting stupid... 

You can't get too careful with kids and button batteries, too many sad stories.

[Video Beagle]

14 hours ago, dizmo said:

Haha that's almost as ridiculous as the US ban on Kinder Surprise.

While I think it's a bit over reaching, the actual ban is on non-edible things inside of edible things..which kind of makes sense.

[Spindel]

1 hour ago, Video Beagle said:

While I think it's a bit over reaching, the actual ban is on non-edible things inside of edible things..which kind of makes sense.

You still have lollipops and popcicles right?