After a contentious debate, the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Wednesday narrowly approved an outline for a new database of consumer complaints about potentially dangerous products. The database, which is scheduled to go online in March and be called SaferProducts.gov, will allow consumers to report incidents of harm, or potential harm, caused by products ranging from toys to cleaners. For instance, it will allow parents to see what if any safety complaints have been filed about various baby strollers. 'Today's vote represents a major victory for consumers and supporters of open government because it will provide the public access to critical product safety information,' said Inez M. Tenenbaum, the commission's chairman, in a prepared statement with her two Democratic colleagues, Robert S. Adler and Thomas H. Moore. The database was mandated by Congress in 2008, but many of the details were left for the commission to decide. On Wednesday, the latest plan was approved by a 3-2 vote, with the two Republican commissioners voting against it. 'Unfortunately, today the Commission voted to approve a highly flawed final rule to establish a public database of consumer complaints,' commissioner Nancy A. Nord, wrote on her blog, in an entry entitled 'Here's Your Turkey, Early.' Nord, who joined Anne Northrup in opposing the rule, added, 'We had the chance to make the database a helpful tool for consumers, but instead it will potentially become just another sinkhole for complaints, but with the apparent 'seal of approval' that comes from being on a federal government website.' The commission collects troves of data on safety-related complaints and problems about products, but that information is rarely made public because a provision in the commission's authorizing law only allows the information to be released with a manufacturer's approval. 'Consumers deserve to know the safety record of the products they buy,' said Ami Gadhia, policy counsel for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, in prepared remarks. 'This database will be a great tool for consumers, and it has the necessary safeguards against incorrect information. It strikes a good balance between consumers' needs and companies' concerns.' Richard Woldenberg, chairman of Learning Resources, an Illinois-based manufacturer of educational materials and toys, said he was frustrated that the Democratic commissioners didn't heed the concerns of manufacturers like him. 'Anybody who wants to can put garbage in this database that slanders me, and there's nothing I can do to stop it,' he said. 'They are taking away a basic right of my company. That's not okay.' He is particularly bothered by the anonymity provisions of the database -- complainants' names are not disclosed without permission. If someone complained about a broken toy, Woldenberg said, he would have no picture of the damaged toy, no sample and no way to get in touch with the consumer. 'Before the government inserted themselves between me and my customer, I would talk to them,' he said. 'We would work it out.' 