WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a new federal standard intended to improve the safety of children’s folding chairs and stools.
The new federal safety standard incorporates the most recent voluntary standard developed by ASTM International (ASTM F2613-17a, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Children’s Chairs and Stools), but limits the scope of the CPSC standard to children’s folding chairs and stools. The mandatory standard contains several requirements for children’s folding chairs and stools, including:
latching and locking mechanism or adequate hinge-line clearance requirements,
rearwards and sideways stability testing, and
warning labels.
Between January 2003 and August 2017, CPSC received a total of 153 reports of incidents, including 105 injuries, related to children’s folding chairs and stools.
The most frequent injuries associated with children’s folding chairs and stools include pinching, finger injuries and tip-overs due to instability.
The effective date for the new mandatory children’s folding chairs and stools standard is six months after the final rule is published in the Federal Register.
The Commission is required by the Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, Section 104(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), to issue consumer product safety standards for durable infant or toddler products. In the past 7 years, the Commission has approved new federal safety standards for durable infant or toddler products, including full-size cribs, non-full-size cribs, play yards, baby walkers, baby bath seats, children’s portable bed rails, strollers, toddler beds, infant swings, handheld infant carriers, soft infant carriers, framed infant carriers, bassinets, cradles, portable hook-on chairs and infant sling carriers.
The Commission voted unanimously (4-0) to approve the standard on December 8, 2017.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC’s work to help ensure the safety of consumer products – such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.
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