Jonathan Midgett, Ph.D., spent twenty-four years at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), where he worked as an educator and trusted advisor to consumers and advocacy groups, expanding consumer participation in voluntary standards and championing standards education. Serving as the agency’s first consumer ombudsman from 2020 until his retirement in 2025, he forged meaningful partnerships that strengthened public engagement with the Commission and the voluntary standards-setting process.
Midgett is also a regular contributor to ANSI’s Consumer Standards Central webinar series. Learn more and attend the next session on November 19 (registration required).
In a recent interview with ANSI, Midgett reflected on his work in standards and what consumers should keep in mind when shopping for their kids during the holiday season.
ANSI: Standards and product safety have played a big role in your career. How did that come about, from arriving at CPSC to getting involved in standards work?
Midgett: My background in social sciences led me to product safety. The CPSC’s Division of Human Factors hired me as a child psychologist to help regulate toys and juvenile products such as cribs, high chairs, strollers, and infant carriers. I was tasked with analyzing the causes of injuries and deaths in the official reports in the CPSC’s injury databases. I was assigned to bring human factors expertise to standards committees, identifying children’s strength, dexterity, developmental milestones, and behavior patterns to help create performance requirements that would prevent and limit injuries. Eventually, I contributed to a couple dozen different standards.
ANSI: As the first CPSC consumer ombudsman, what priorities guided your work on consumer engagement with the U.S. voluntary standards system?
Midgett: Openness, clarity, and timeliness. In standards development, everyone has a voice, but the consumer voice is often underrepresented. I approached the role as part concierge and part educator, helping consumers find their footing instead of getting overwhelmed. I responded to every inquiry within three business days—in plain language free of legalese and government jargon—and made sure public feedback reached the right staff members so that we could act quickly on emerging hazards that the public brought to our attention.
ANSI: Why is consumer participation in voluntary standards development so important?
Midgett: Voluntary standards are the first line of defense when a new hazard emerges in the marketplace, because the law directs the CPSC to rely on voluntary standards when they adequately address a hazard. Lawmakers took this approach because standards are often a more efficient and cost-effective way to address hazards than bans or new regulations. Consumers know how products are used in real homes, so having them involved in standards development leads to better-informed standards that the market is more likely to trust and adopt.
ANSI: What can we do to make standards development less intimidating and more accessible to consumer participants?
Midgett: The main thing to remember is that standards development is a community effort. Everyone at the table works toward the same two goals: preventing injuries and keeping industry competitive. Standards are a win-win for consumers and manufacturers, so new participants should feel invited and valued, not intimidated, when they meet the team working on a standard. They have every right to be there to voice concerns and ideas.
ANSI: What have consumers taught you about product safety that you might not have learned from data or engineering approaches alone?
Midgett: The most surprising thing is how differently people use products than designers expect. Data alone doesn’t explain injuries; you need a sound understanding of how people actually behave, and candid accounts from people who were hurt are essential to building one. For example, we heard about parents placing video monitors inside cribs for a better view of their sleeping baby, and infants were strangled by the cords. These real-world misuses sometimes baffle manufacturers, but they need to hear about them to design features that reduce the risk. Misuses like this one are discussed at length in standards subcommittees by industry, consumers, and CPSC experts.
ANSI: The holiday shopping season is approaching. What guidance do you have for parents who want to make safe choices for their kids?
Midgett: Look for products that meet safety standards and choose designs with some history behind them over the newest model. Marketers are always adding features to get ahead of the competition, and a new feature can bring hazards no one has seen before. When strollers first got snack trays, some early designs created potentially fatal entrapment hazards in the leg openings. ASTM International’s stroller subcommittee developed a test limiting those openings to safe dimensions, and later designs met the new requirement.
When I see “new and improved” on a juvenile product, I’m wary. I feel better when I know the new feature itself, not just the product, is covered by a standard—since a new feature can be added to a product that is compliant with an existing standard without affecting its compliance with that standard.
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Starting your holiday shopping? The CPSC offers these safety tips:
For more information: Visit ANSI’s Consumer Affairs webpage to learn more about consumer participation in standards development, ANSI’s Consumer Interest Forum, and ISO’s Committee on Consumer Policy (COPOLCO).
