Children at risk over unsafe pyjamas — Ozsale fined half a million dollars

THE Federal Court has ordered Ozsale to pay $500,000 in fines after their pyjamas were found to have “placed children at increased risk of injury”.

The Orange Superhero Pyjamas were particularly concerning for the ACCC. Picture: Supplied.

THE Federal Court has ordered Ozsale to pay $500,000 in fines after their children’s pyjamas failed to meet Australian standards.

Ozsale copped the hefty fine after they sold over 200 non-compliant garments to Australian consumers and had over 11,000 non-compliant garments available for supply to Australian consumers the ACCC stated on their website.

“The ACCC brought these proceedings because Ozsale placed children at increased risk of injury by supplying non-compliant garments. The Orange Superhero Pyjamas were particularly concerning, as the fabric and the length of the cape presented a very real risk of injury, as it could easily brush against a heat source and very quickly catch fire,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

“Children can suffer serious burns when the nightwear they’re wearing catches fire. That is why it is crucial to know how flammable children’s nightwear is in the event of a fire. The mandatory safety standard for children’s nightwear exists to ensure that consumers have accurate information about flammability. In this case, one garment was so unsafe that it should not have been supplied in Australia at all.”

The Sleep Sack was missing the fire-hazard warning label. Picture: Supplied.

“All retailers who sell products covered by an Australian mandatory safety standard must ensure they have compliance processes in place to verify that the products they supply meet the safety standard. Failure to do so not only puts consumers at risk but, as these penalties demonstrate, is a breach of the Australian Consumer Law which can attract significant penalties.”

Ozsale admitted in joint submissions to the court that it supplied five styles of nightwear between February 2014 and October 2015 that failed to meet the mandatory safety standard for children’s nightwear.

They also admitted they did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the children’s nightwear they offered for sale complied with the mandatory safety standard.

The pyjamas in question were either missing, or had the incorrect, fire-hazard warning label.

All of the products in question have been recalled and consumers who still have them have been advised to stop using them immediately and return them to Ozsale for a full refund.

Details of the recalled products can be found on the ACCC website.

Ozsale also recently paid a $10,800 penalty and offered court enforceable undertakings for alleged misleading representations in relation to consumer guarantees, following the issue of an infringement notice by the ACCC.