The Consumer Product Safety Commission's test labs are located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, just north of Washington DC. In this location the Commission performs all compliance testing for its bicycle helmet standard. During 2010 the lab will move to new and reportedly better facilities. In fact, we did not see any major problems with the old lab shown here.




The buildings are old, but well kept. The site was once a test facility for Nike rockets.




The helmet test lab, located with equipment for other types of testing, got a new test rig in 2001.




The lab compares well with others we have seen. The staff has a thorough understanding of the test protocols and applies them conscientously. In this photo Rick McCallion prepares to drop a demonstration helmet for a tour group with a mouse click. (This is not actual CPSC compliance testing!)




The monorail test rig and data acquisition equipment were supplied by Biokinetics in Ottawa, Canada.




Lower part of the monorail, showing the velocity gate on the right.




Headforms and anvils came from Cadex, another Canadian supplier. The anvils are chromed.




From left: wet sample immersion tank, hot and cold conditioning equipment, rolloff test apparatus.




CPSC developed this design for testing strap stretch and strength.




Senior Engineer George Sushinsky demonstrating crib test equipment in another area of the lab.





After a tour of the lab and a briefing from the staff, we have confidence in the validity of CPSC's helmet test results.


These photos were taken on June 13, 2003.

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This page was last revised on: February 4, 2010.

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