National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) and Follow-up Activities for Product Related Injuries

Section 5(a) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA)(15 U.S.C. § 2054(a)) requires the Commission to collect information related to the cause and prevention of death, injury, and illness associated with consumer products. CPSC staff conducts continuing studies and investigations of deaths, injuries, diseases, other health impairments, and economic losses resulting from incidents involving consumer products. CPSC staff obtains information about product-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses from a variety of sources, including news outlets, death certificates, consumer complaints, and medical facilities. CPSC staff also operates the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), which provides timely data on consumer product-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments in the United States. CPSC staff also uses the NEISS system to collect information on childhood poisonings in accordance with the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970. From these sources, the CPSC staff selects cases of interest for further investigation by contacting persons who witnessed or were injured in incidents involving consumer products. These investigations are conducted on-site (face-to-face), by telephone, or by the Internet. On-site investigations are usually made in cases where the CPSC staff needs photographs of the incident site, the product involved, or detailed information about the incident. This information can come from face-to- face interviews with persons who were injured or who witnessed the incident, as well as via contact with state and local officials, including police, coroners and fire investigators, and others with knowledge of the incident.

The latest form for National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) and Follow-up Activities for Product Related Injuries expires 2028-09-30 and can be found here.

Follow-Up Activities for Product-Related Injuries-Interviews

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Health - Consumer Health and Safety