Crib Safety Regulations Announced

Defective and dangerous infant cribs have become a major problem across the United States. Since September 2007 the Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC, has recalled more than 6 million cribs due to dangerous designs and defects. These problems include failures related to drop sides, hardware and wooden slats.
Consumer advocates and health professionals have long complained that federal safety requirements governing cribs do not address the durability of drop-sides on cribs and related hardware, as well as wood strength and quality and other issues.
Wednesday, the chairman of the CPSC, warned crib makers that her agency is cracking down on defective equipment and will push through tougher federal requirements for cribs.
“Now is the time to create a state-of-the-art crib standard and not let special interests hijack the process,” Inez Tenenbaum told industry executives, regulators and consumer advocates at the annual meeting of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization.
Tenenbaum said. “I say no more to the tired tactic of blaming parents in the press when CPSC announces a recall that involves a death. Take responsibility and show respect to the grieving family, yes, even if they are pursuing litigation. Those who tread into this arena when CPSC has found your product to be defective will be called out.”
Tenenbaum announced her agency will issue a new safety standard for cribs this year and that the CPSC is launching a new “SafeSleep” initiative for babies and toddlers to speed recalls and more quickly alert the public about defective products.
The CPSC is also overhauling its computer systems. Under legislation passed by Congress in 2008, the CPSC is required to create a database to make consumer complaints regarding products available to the public for the first time.
The database is expected to be active next year and according to the CPSC will allow consumers to report product incidents, to search for incident reports on products they own, and to stay apprised of safety warnings from CPSC.