Analyzing the Effectiveness of Child Resistant Closures by Studying Attempted Entry Behavior

Abstract

The Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 was the culmination of an effort lasting over a decade. The purpose of this act was “to protect children from serious personal injury or serious illness…” as the result of gaining access to hazardous household substances. The purpose of the investigation reported in this paper was to analyze three commonly available safety caps (plug-key), arrow line-up, and push-turn types), comparing them with one another and with standard types (snap and twist off) for a large group of children (99) aged 2, 3, 4, and 5 years, male and female. Testing procedures resembling those required under the federal standard were employed with two important exceptions: (1) children were not shown how to gain entry to the containers and (2) the period of attempted entry was reduced to two minutes. Incentives were placed in the containers to stimulate interest. Analysis of successful and unsuccessful entries was conducted with respect to container type, age, and sex. Several significant effects were noted. The push-turn type of safety cap proved most effective, followed by the arrow line-up and slot-key types. The percentage of successful entries was directly related to age. The statistics also revealed evidence questioning the effectiveness of some caps in meeting the federal standard. A detailed motion analysis was conducted on all subjects to study their investigative behaviors in attempting to gain entry to the containers. In testing subjects, all data were recorded on reel-to-reel video tape, permitting instant replay and micromotion analysis using slow motion and stop action viewing. A taxonomy and a frequency chart for these motions were then constructed.

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