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SA Manufacturers selling Shatterproof rulers that shatter!

My child’s safety and well-being are probably the most important thing to me. If manufacturers of products used by kids make claims about safety that are false – I get seriously angry! So I was upset to discover that a number of rulers in South Africa claiming to be shatterproof – are in fact not shatterproof! The whole point of having a shatterproof ruler is to prevent injury. If a child bends a ruler and it snaps into many pieces, it poses a risk for eye and face injury and swallowing. A number of manufacturers are selling rulers that are marked Shatterproof but they shatter dangerously when bent.

This really concerns me, so I bought rulers claiming to be shatterproof from a few outlets to test them. I went to PnA, Pick n Pay, Checkers and The Write Shoppe and this is what I found.

Croxley
I bought a Croxley Shatterproof ruler from PnA at N1 City, Cape Town. According to their website: “The Croxley brand is synonymous with South African stationery over the last century and has been trusted as a stationery brand in our homes, schools and offices.” I’m afraid this trust has literally been shattered! When I bent a Croxley ruler clearly marked “shatterproof” it broke immediately into numerous sharp pieces, many of them small enough to be ingested by a child. The pieces flew off very quickly when it shattered, if this was pointing at a child’s face it would be very dangerous.




Lion Brand
The Lion Brand ruler marked Shatterproof did a lot better. This one came from PnA in N1 City and when I bent it, it broke cleanly into two pieces. The edges were still quite sharp, but at least it didn’t shatter into multiple sharp pieces. Lion Brand is part of the Silveray Stationery Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bidvest Group Limited.



Nexx
This ruler is branded Nexx, and also came from PnA N1 City and is clearly marked “Shatterproof”. When bent, it shattered immediately into 10 small sharp pieces. Again, these pieces shattered at high velocity which would be very dangerous to a child. Nexx does not seem to have an online presence but appears to be represented by a company called Interstat.



Oxford
The Oxford branded ruler from PnA in N1 City is marked “Shatter Resistant” and did exactly what I would expect from a Shatterproof ruler. It is completely flexible and didn’t break at all.




Scripto
Scripto sells a combo pack at Checkers with a ruler clearly marked “Shatterproof”. This one came from Checkers in Long Beach mall, Cape Town. When bent – it immediately shattered into 6 small sharp pieces, one long sharp piece looks very dangerous. The Scripto brand is owned by National Stationery in Durban, which according to their website was acquired in 2009.





Penflex
Penflex sells a Shatterproof marked ruler that is quite hard, but it doesn’t break at all when bent. This is exactly what I would expect from a trusted South African brand.




Staedtler
The shatterproof ruler by Staedtler from Pick n Pay broke when bent but didn’t shatter.



Student Solutions
Checkers also sells a ruler marked “flexible” and branded “Student Solutions”. Even though this didn’t claim to be Shatterproof, it was completely flexible and didn’t break at all.



Maped
The Write Shoppe sells a Maped brand ruler marked as “flexible” – this one is completely flexible and didn’t break at all.




This video shows how easy it is for a child to shatter the rulers that we tested. In the video are the Croxley and Scripto rulers. You can see the force with which the pieces fly off.





This video shows how I expect a Shatterproof ruler to behave. In the video are the Penflex, Student Solutions and Maped rulers.





Of the 8 brands tested, 3 of them shattered very badly when bent. The main culprits in this test are Croxley, Nexx and Scripto. When I spoke to a plastics manufacturer they told me that they classify rulers into three classes:

  1. Normal
    These will shatter when bent. They are normally made from Styrene, which is the precursor to Polystyrene and a common component of many plastic products.
  2. Shatter Resistant
    These will break when bent but will not shatter into multiple pieces. They are often made from High Impact Polystyrene – which is a more flexible form of Polystyrene made by adding a more stretchy material during the polymerisation process.
  3. Shatterproof
    These won’t break at all when bent. They are normally made from flexible PVC plastic.

The point for me is that whatever classification the ruler falls in to, it should behave as advertised! I would want to buy a Shatterproof for my children, but Croxley, Nexx and Scripto rulers that say “Shatterproof” clearly shatter dangerously which means they are making a false claim on their product.

I approached these three companies for comment as well as the two retailers who sell them. Scripto came back with the following statement:

The quality of our products is of paramount importance and there is clearly an issue with these rulers. Our senior management team have been alerted to your findings, and are investigating the matter further with our manufacturer. We would appreciate your understanding that this clearly is not something we take lightly and can assure you that the necessary steps will be taken to rectify the situation.We will be in contact as soon as possible with our findings.
As at the date of publication of this article they have not provided further feedback.

 Nexx came back with the following:

With regards to the complaint on the rulers, various factors need to be taken into consideration before we can come to a conclusion as to why the ruler allegedly shattered.
A few points of consideration would need to be taken before any conclusion can be given:

  • What was the condition of the ruler before the test was done?
  • Was the ruler exposed to extreme temperatures as all plastic changes its properties when exposed to various temperatures?
  • How was the test performed? Was it carried as per the SABS Standards?
These are just a few clarifications that we would need to know before we can come to a conclusion as to why the ruler was allegedly shattered. Attached are pictures of random rulers which are currently in production to test as per standard requirements to qualify for shatterproof ability.

Attached are also pages 8-10 from the SABS Standard indicating the test required for bending and snap back. Which will endorse for Shatter-resistant boundaries. We thank you for the enquiry and we would continue to investigate. Should we arrive at a more conclusive feedback we will share with you.

Croxley did not respond to my email and neither did the retailers that I contacted.

Whether we’re using the SABS testing guidelines or not, in my view, if a Shatterproof ruler shatters dangerously when bent, it’s not Shatterproof! There are clearly issues with certain manufacturers and I urge you to be cautious when buying rulers for your children and make sure they really are Shatterproof.

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