America’s first consumer-product-safety tsar died on July 21st, aged 93
make a good case, back in 1973, that Richard Simpson was the most powerful man in America. President Richard Nixon, who appointed him, could send battalions of young men to Vietnam and order the building of the space shuttle.
Scientifically, for he was an electrical engineer by training, he drew up lists of the most dangerous things, ranked by number of accidents caused per year and the severity of the injuries. Data from hospital emergency rooms showed that, each year, around 700,000 injuries were caused by children’s toys; 500,000 by playground equipment, mostly swings; 150,000 by glass doors and windows, and 140,000 by power lawn-mowers. Human bumbling was a factor, of course.
In fact, though registered Republican, the new chairman took no sides. His creed was “Hard work and long hours”. He had been brought up in grinding poverty in Missouri, one of nine children. His father was a carpenter, but the family lived on welfare. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school, let alone go on to university, making his way with scholarships and night jobs. Eventually he built up a business making naval electronics that had sales of $4m a year.as he chose.
It was cigarettes that eluded Mr Simpson, though they were both unhealthy and a cause of countless fires. He hoped to get most of them banned under the Hazardous Substances Act, by setting a maximum level for tar and nicotine. The surgeon-general had already declared them hazardous, but the tobacco companies claimed to be exempt from both the act and the agency. The second part was true; Mr Simpson could not deal with them.
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