Khalisa Herman Phillips, PhD, CPSI
Dr. Phillips has been actively involved in consumer product safety since 2010. Dr. Phillips has doctoral and master’s degrees in human development, with expertise in child development and play behavior. During her 10+ years working in the Human Factors Division at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Dr. Phillips developed human factors expertise such as designing for safety, distinguishing between foreseeable behavior and misuse, applying anthropometric data to consumer products, and how to write effective instructions and warnings.
While at the CPSC, Dr. Phillips served as a Commission subject matter expert on toys, playground equipment, and children's products such as wearables sleep products for infants. She co-led and actively participated in weekly reviews of fatalities and injuries involving playground equipment and toys that had been reported to the Commission. She co-managed and participated actively in the age grading program at CPSC, drafting hundreds of reports each year, and reviewing several hundred additional age grades drafted by staff. Dr. Phillips was responsible for defending the government's position to firms and legal representatives contesting regulatory violations, and supported Commission litigation. She developed and led trainings on age grading for field investigators, Compliance, and other offices across CPSC.
Dr. Phillips was the government representative / project manager for two contracts on children's toy play observations, and was a co-editor of the 2020 Age Determination Guidelines. She was a key figure responsible for updating the CPSC’s (2010) Public Playground Safety Handbook. She briefed the Commission on multiple occasions, and gave presentations at workshops and conferences on a variety of topics pertaining to age grading and children’s product safety.
Since departing CPSC, Dr. Phillips remains active with ASTM standards development activities for toys, playgrounds, and children's products. She is an NRPA Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI). She remains a member of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) and the Society for Product Safety Professionals (SPSP).
More information on Dr. Phillips can be found on LinkedIn
Toys & Age Grading
Playground Equipment
Playground Equipment
Dr. Phillips provides age determinations or “age grades” of toys to determine intended age and product category. She age grades prototypes of new products to support risk assessments during the design phase, as well as existing products to contest regulatory violations issued by the CPSC. Dr. Phillips is experienced at evaluating a variet
Dr. Phillips provides age determinations or “age grades” of toys to determine intended age and product category. She age grades prototypes of new products to support risk assessments during the design phase, as well as existing products to contest regulatory violations issued by the CPSC. Dr. Phillips is experienced at evaluating a variety of products beyond toys including novelty party favors, executive desk toys, small chairs, backpacks, jewelry, and art supplies. She is also knowledgeable of age-specific requirements in ASTM International F963 for children’s toys addressed by the standard.
Playground Equipment
Playground Equipment
Playground Equipment
Dr. Phillips is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector with expertise in evaluating playground equipment against relevant ASTM Intl voluntary standards and the CPSC Handbook for Public Playground Safety. She evaluates a range of active play products including fully enclosed play structures, constant air inflatables, water slides, tramp
Dr. Phillips is a Certified Playground Safety Inspector with expertise in evaluating playground equipment against relevant ASTM Intl voluntary standards and the CPSC Handbook for Public Playground Safety. She evaluates a range of active play products including fully enclosed play structures, constant air inflatables, water slides, trampolines, etc. She conducts risk assessments to summarize non-compliant safety hazards, and to identify potential regulatory concerns, as well as foreseeable behaviors and potential scenarios of misuse. Additionally, Dr. Phillips is available to conduct age grading and product category determinations for playground equipment.
Children's Products
Playground Equipment
Children's Products
Dr. Phillips takes a human factors approach to evaluating potential safety hazards with children's products. Risk assessments take into account product size, features and functionality, as well as child anthropometrics, strength data, foreseeable behaviors, and potential misuse scenarios. Additionally, product evaluations take into cons
Dr. Phillips takes a human factors approach to evaluating potential safety hazards with children's products. Risk assessments take into account product size, features and functionality, as well as child anthropometrics, strength data, foreseeable behaviors, and potential misuse scenarios. Additionally, product evaluations take into consideration the ages and stages of child development within physical, motor, cognitive, and social/emotional domains.
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