It's truly amazing, but I was placing my children's health and well being on the line.  I never gave it a thought until the day of the 'accident' happened.  In or around 1995/1996/1997, I purchased a swing set for my oldest child.  I registered the set with the normal warranty/recall post cards.  In the the summer of 2006, my youngest child was playing on the swing set and the "J-bolt" broke on the glider portion of the swing set.  The glider is a two seat device that allows two children to face each other and swing back and forth.

Up until this point, I had always performed the normal periodic maintenance and monthly inspections on the swing set.  It sounds anal retentive, but I do believe in keeping up with schedules for equipment like this.  You never know when a swing chain could fail or a hidden bee's nest could develop.  So, I grabbed the owner's manual and call the company to obtain a replacement part.  The 800 number works, but the company is no longer in business.  They went bankrupt said the person on the other end of the line. 

I searched the internet and eventually found that they did go bankrupt and they were no longer in business.  I also found information conerning the recall for the J-bolt that had broken.  There were no repair parts - just remove this particular ride from the swing set and don't use it.  I also found information concerning this from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

The CPSC is a government office and they have a web site at www_cpsp_gov (use a dot for the spaces).  The web site will allow you to subscribe to email newsletters that come out in an almost daily basis.  Some of the email directly relates to product recalls (children's toys, outdoor power equipment, coffee makers, etc) and they also send out reminders depending on the seasons.  You may get a reminder about swimming safety and which products you should choose.  CPSC also sends out Comment Notices.

The Comment Notices allow various people to have input to a change in the regulation for product safety.  The most recent comment notice was to propose placing a label on all portable generators that they should not be used indoors or near an open window.  For most people, that would make sense - however, having a warning label on the generator is a great reminder.  The label eventually became policy for all portable generators sold in the USA. 

The bottom line:  Get over to the CPSC web site and get on the mailing list for the most current product recalls.  If you purchase an item from Ebay - ensure the product has not been recalled in the past.  Recently, I've seen a lot of recalls for children's toys and jewelry that contain harmful amounts of lead.  Toys and jewelry are big sellers on Ebay.  But then again, so is outdoor power equipment and I've seen many recalls pertaining to their safety.

Thanks for taking the time to read this guide.

Terry

PS - for the record, due to the CPSC's advice - the swing set is no longer in service.  It has been removed and scrapped.