Welcome to the exciting world of standard setting

Since we first learned of ASTM International, that sets voluntary standards for nursery products, KID has been involved in the twice annual meetings that review incidents and recommend changes to the standards that apply to cribs, strollers, high chairs and many other nursery products, as well as toys. It is a sometimes frustrating process as the predominance of manufacturers on the committees and management by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) seem to slow changes to the standards that would address emerging hazards. For instance, it took several years to get a test into the standard to measure whether the sides of a bassinet would actually contain a child and more than ten years of discussion and suggestions for a durability test for cribs left the standard virtually unchanged.

But all that changed with the passage of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in 2008. Now, with a mandate that the voluntary standards set the basis for a mandatory standard – and CPSC tasked to make the mandatory rules stricter if needed – work on these committees has picked up. In marathon meetings this year, the sub-committees on cribs and non-full sized cribs have drafted significantly more robust standards that have been out to ballot once and will be published sometime this summer. CPSC will use those as the basis for their mandatory standards that Chairman Tenenbaum has promised would be out by the end of the year.

Participation in ASTM is improving – the addition of Toys”R”Us and other retailers adds a new perspective to the group. But consumers are still woefully underrepresented – usually 5 or fewer votes out of more than 50. So any consumers out there who want to get involved in the real work of making children’s products safer – come join us!

Penalties: CPSC Enforces Product Safetly Laws

The CPSC is holding companies accountable for allowing unsafe products to reach store shelves and the homes of millions of children. In 2009, 34 of the 38 total civil penalties were for children’s products. Companies who failed to report unsafe drawstrings on children clothes and those who violated the lead paint ban for children’s toys received the majority of these penalties. The CPSC’s ongoing actions display increased assertiveness in enforcing product safety laws and reinforces that safety comes first. For more information on penalties for dangerous children's products please check out or recent report The Year of the Nursery Product Recall as well as www.cpsc.gov.

How many incidents does it take to get dangerous products recalled?

There were a disturbing number of incidents in the children's products recalled in 2009, prior to recalls being announced. In fact, the number of reported incidents prior to recall more than doubled in comparison to 2008. In 2009, a total 4, 616 incidents were reported prior to the recall of 143 children’s products. The Adventure Playsets had 1,400 incidents reported prior to recall and Simplicity Inc. Rainforest Play Yards had 1,350 incidents prior to recall.

In addition, injuries from recalled children's products totaled 198 before these hazardous products were recalled. Seventeen percent of children’s product recalled involved injuries prior to the recall. Thirty-five percent of recalled nursery products injuries reported before they were removed from the market. Furthermore, Evenflo (for the 3rd year in a row) cause the most injuries prior to recall- the Envision high chair was responsible for 54 injuries.

Lastly, there were nine deaths in recalled children’s products in 2009. Seven out of the nine deaths occurred in sleep environment products including drop side cribs and motions beds. For more information on 2009 product recalls please check out our recent report The Year of the Nursery Product Recall as well as www.cpsc.gov

Once, twice, five times a recall?

In KID's look at 2009 recalls, we noticed that many children's product manufacturers had multiple recalls. Fifteen manufacturers reported more than one recall.

Dorel Juvenile Group and Evenflo Co. Inc. lead in product recalls with five each. Evenflo recalled two high chairs, an activity center, a stationary entertainer and a telephone toy. Dorel (parent company of Safety First, Eddie Bauer, Cosco and other brands) recalled a safety gate (twice), 2 play yards and an infant carrier. The carrier was recalled for handle failure, a recall the company is too familiar with, having three previous recalls for the same flaw.

Not far behind were Simplicity Inc./SFCA and the Land of Nod which each had three separate recalls. The products of these four companies posed several hazards to children including choking, falls, and entrapment. For more information on 2009 product recalls please check out our recent report The Year of the Nursery Product Recall.

2009: the year of the nursery product recall

This morning, Kids In Danger released The Year of the Nursery Product Recall: a look at children's product recalls in 2009. The report found that for the first time, nursery products -- cribs, strollers, high chairs -- accounted for the largest number of children's product recalls. Why?

First, under new leadership, CPSC is taking a harder line against defects in nursery products such as drop-side cribs. Chairman Inez Tenenbaum has pledged to recall defective cribs and pass a mandatory standard this year that bans that troubled design. With an early warning system on sleep products, CPSC recalled twenty sleep products including cribs, hammocks and play yard/bassinet systems.

The more troubling reason for the increase in nursery product recalls may be that the current voluntary industry standards are not doing enough to keep children safe. Nearly all the nursery products that were recalled, and all of them that caused deaths, were certified by the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) as having passed strenuous testing. In addition to the cribs, the recalls highlight design flaws in strollers, high chairs and play yards which were not caught by the voluntary testing. At the press conference, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan shared a letter she has sent to JPMA asking them to immediately remove their seal from any drop-side cribs and encourage their members to offer an incentive to consumers (such as 50% 0ff) to purchase new stationary side cribs. In addition, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association has asked their members to stop the sale of drop-side cribs. Many retailers have already done so.

So the mandatory standards for nursery products required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) can't come fast enough. Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky spoke of first introducing a bill with that requirement in 2001. Now, with a timeline of 2 standards every six months, CPSC has already released the walker and bath seat standards and published the advanced notice of rulemaking for bassinets and toddler beds. Standards for cribs and non-full size cribs are promised for later this year.

In addition, the recalls point to the need for the public database, also required by CPSIA, to alert both CPSC and consumers to injury trends and unsafe products.

So what can parents do? First, check out the report of 2009 recalls as well as the CPSC list of recalled products to make sure you aren't using any. Second, report any problems with nursery products or any other children's product to the manufacturer and CPSC. Check out KID's safe sleep flyer, Product Hazard pages and Advocacy pages for more information.