Black & Decker Fined $960,000 by CPSC for Defective Weed Trimmer

Black & Decker of Maryland will pay $960,000 to the CPSC after failing to alert the agency about a defective weed trimmer. The company allegedly failed to report safety hazards relating to its Grasshog XP model, and withheld information even as the CPSC tried to investigate injury reports.

The electric Grasshog trimmer was defective by May 2006, a fact that Black & Decker knew. They didn’t provide sufficient information about “mounting numbers of incidents and injuries” until October 2006, according to a CPSC-released statement.

By July 2007, when the trimmer was recalled, there were more than 700 reported incidents and 58 injuries, the CPSC said. The device’s spool, spool cap and pieces of trimmer string could loosen, becoming projectiles, according to the agency. The Grasshog could also overheat and burn consumers.

A recall was re-announced in August 2009 after reports of an additional 100 injuries were filed. The trimmer was sold for about $70 from November 2005 through 2007, and can be repaired with a free repair kit from Black & Decker.

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