In 1999, SafeStart Systems founder Jon Russell was working with an electric belt sander finishing the floor in his new studio. Extending farther than the cord could reach, he accidentally pulled the plug from the wall socket. The sanding machine, of course, stopped. Jon walked 15 feet to plug the unit back in, not remembering that the trigger switch on the sander was locked in the "on" position. After plugging the cord in, the sander immediately started up and raced across the floor, crashing into the newly painted wall, and leaving a dent large enough to fit a golf ball. 
He thought how ridiculous it was that, in 1999, existing technology couldn't prevent such an accident. Jon coined the phrase "unauthorized restart" to describe what happens when a device is plugged in with the power switch on and wondered how and why the appliance and tool industry could manufacture products with this hazard. Later, in the summer of 2000, while building a home in Weston, CT, Jon, the consummate "hands on" guy, was using a large drill to cut through a ceiling and install a dryer vent. He had the drill's trigger locked on. This time, there was plenty of cord. What happened next launched his quest for a solution. Without any warning, power in the neighborhood dropped. It was a hot June day and temporary power outages were common. Naturally, the tool immediately stopped working. Jon loosened his grip, as would anyone holding a lifeless tool. In a couple seconds and without warning, the power came back on. The tool started up at full power, jammed itself into the floor and slammed Jon’s arm against the uprights, causing a serious wrist and arm injury …as a bad "B" actor in a Miami Vice re-run might say …"Now it's personal. We need a solution before anyone else gets hurt.
Jon contacted his friend Tom Feil, a retired electronics engineer. He shared with Tom his experiences with the re-start hazard and the ideas he had for eliminating it. He briefed Tom on some of the challenges, including size constraints. Most of all, while the solution had to address new products, it also had to address the 1.3 billion hazardous appliances and small tools that already existed in homes today.  The restart hazard is not a new one – not to industry, not to government, and not to the public. Going back as far as the 1940's, safeguards were required for large industrial machines to prevent "unauthorized restarts." These safeguards were large, expensive and completely impractical for small appliances and tools. They also were fallible. In fact, back in 1999, while Jon was sanding his studio floor, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Hazards (NIOSH) issued a report in which a 27 year-old worker was killed when his co-worker accidentally turned on the breaker switch for a machine that the worker was cleaning. Unfortunately the unit's power switch had been left in the "on" position. When the circuit breaker was turned on, the unit started right up, killing the man inside. Sadly, gathering data was easy. The list began with a friend who, as a child, lost the tips of his fingers when a kitchen mixer was plugged in with his fingers in the bowl. |
There was the grammar school custodian who accidentally pulled the cord on his floor buffer from the wall, only to plug it in and watch it spin away like a Three Stooges skit. Similarly, although less entertaining was the incident of a worker being killed when hit in the head by the buffer's wood handle. And then there was the terrible incident of the hedge clippers: Dad was trimming the hedges. He accidentally pulled the extension cord away from the house outlet, 75 feet away. He dropped the clippers with the switch still locked "on." As he walked toward the outlet, his young child, eager to "help daddy," picked up the clippers by the blade. Dad, with his back turned, plugged in the extension cord. And the list goes on and on. For the next year, Tom worked on the electronic and size constraints, while Jon supplied concept and application data. Then, in early 2002, the first prototype was successfully tested. It worked exceptionally well: it was small, inexpensive and could be put in-line on any appliance or tool, large or small. The only problem was that on existing tools and appliances the cord needed to be cut and the safety circuit wired into it. Although the implementation still needed some work, the circuitry was well within the realm of patent application status. The first U.S. patent was applied for in early 2002, gaining approval in 2006. Additional patents have followed and others pending. The safety restart circuitry was named SafeStart Systems M odel #82397. Once the first patent was applied for, Jon and Tom founded what is today known as SafeStart Systems LLC. The next step for SafeStart Systems: contact major appliance and tool manufacturers to make them aware of the #82397 Safety Circuitry and hopefully elicit voluntary implementation into their product lines. To punctuate the urgency ofthis agenda a demonstration video was filmed (available on the SafeStart Systems corporate website). Consumers Must Seize Control of Their Own Safety
Mr. Russell recounts, “The results were interesting, to say the least. Literally, all responded, saying there was no interest in the product. I was able to speak to one brand manager who spoke anonymously. He said, "Look, what you have here lacks three things. One, you have no public outcry due to the fact that people believe this hazard is operator error. Two, you have no government mandate, and that won't happen until you have public outcry. And Three, there is no value added as a result of One and Two." He went on to say, "If we put this out, we are essentially saying to o ur customers,'Hey, we’ve been selling you products for years that aren’t safe but now we have a fix for it'… that’s a PR Pandora’s box that nobody is going to want to open." So what’s next for SafeStart and the revolutionary safety device that no manufacturer will voluntarily implement? Mr. Russell contacted another friend who was a retired CEO of one of the largest electrical connector suppliers in North America for whom he still consulted. He was very interested in the product and set up lunch with the current Senior VP of Engineering, and the company's CEO. The company had direct distribution channels through their electrical supply vendors and the product could be easily inserted into their existing product lines. The problem was the stock price of the company was at an eight-year low, and there was no room for new development outside of what was already on their slate. What they were able to offer however was valuable insight to the world of electrical safety product design and manufacturing.  In late 2005, Jon set a project mandate up with Tom. He knew then they had to get their safety product into the hands of consumers, with or without help from the manufacturers. The goal was to make a retrofit product, something the consumer could easily attach to existing appliances and tools. |
There needed to be three products: a consumer version for the kitchen, bath and other home appliances, a professional version for the garage, workshop, contractors and do-it-yourselfers and an industrial version for manufacturing plants and medical applications.
A few months later, they had their first retrofit. The user simply clicked it onto the plug of their appliance or tool and the safety circuitry was installed instantly. No buttons to push, no wires to cut: simple. Focus Groups Demand SafeStart
In early 2006, SafeStart Systems booked six national focus groups in three major markets. The demonstration was a simple 45-second video presenting two re-enactments of actual events. One, where a little girl has her hand in a mixer when the power goes out, and another is a re-creation of the hedge trimmer incident with the little boy grabbing the blade. The 45-second video was followed by a 15-second product demonstration using the retrofit prototype and a kitchen hand mixer. The participants were asked to write down on a scale of 1-10 their "call to action." One, being no interest at all and 10, they would run out and buy it today. The scores were astonishing. The average score for six groups in Chicago, IL, Dallas, TX, and Stamford, CT: 8.7. The most dominant positive responders: parents with young children. SafeStart always knew they had a product that would prevent serious injuries, especially to children. Now there was enough confirmation that consumers would embrace the technology if it were available at a reasonable cost. From 2006 to 2009, SafeStart aggressively pushed forward with advanced development of their new retrofit line. In June of 2008, they received their second US patent. In early 2009, SafeStart Systems officially produced the first production model run of their new "SafetyGate™" Consumer Retrofit product.One of the most important hurdles in safety product manufacture remained: the Underwriters Laboratories testing and Seal of Approval. In April of 2009, the SafetyGate™ Consumer product was officially sent to Underwriters Laboratories for testing. The testing was done under several standards and, with the exception of a single component value change, the production model units passed with full approvals.Those approvals greenlighted the final designs for the SafetyGate Professional, which was finalized for production in late July and scheduled for release in early 4Q 2009. In August of 2009, SafeStart received a U.S. trademark of their SafetyGate™ name. Parents and Grandparents Form Natural,
but not Exhaustive, Target Market It is only fitting that SafeStart Systems release its new SafetyGate™ Consumer electrical safety product to the parentsof young children. SafeStart is proud to announce the formal de but of the SafetyGate™ Retrofit product line on September 13, 2009 at the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. From Sept. 25 - Oct. 18, 2009, inventor and Managing Director of SafeStart Systems, US Operations Jon Russell will demonstrate the new technology to the estimated 1M visitors at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, Texas. The product is available through the company’s online SafetyGate Store at www.safetygatestore.com Currently, SafeStart Systems has several other advanced safety products in development. These products will prevent thousands of injuries and deaths from hazards that were once considered "operator error." Mr. Russell sums up the direction of his company by saying "We will continue to refine our products and extend the boundaries of their applications…because at SafeStart Systems we know some injuries are preventable."
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Currently, SafeStart Systems has several other advanced safety products in development. These products will prevent thousands of injuries and deaths from hazards that were once considered "operator error." Mr. Russell sums up the direction of his company by saying "We will continue to refine our products and extend the boundaries of their applications…because at SafeStart Systems we know some injuries are preventable."
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