CPSC Sets New Mandatory Safety Standard for High Chairs
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is setting a new children’s product safety standard for high chairs. The agency’s final rule adopts as mandatory the latest voluntary industry standard on high chairs, ASTM F404-18. Though the proposed standard issued by CPSC in 2015 included some changes from the industry standard in place at the time (see 1511060014), the latest version of the standard addresses CPSC’s concerns and is being adopted without modification.
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The newly adopted safety standard defines high chairs as: “a free standing chair for a child up to 3 years of age which has a seating surface more than 15 in. above the floor and elevates the child normally for the purposes of feeding or eating.” High chairs may be sold with or without a tray, have adjustable heights, or recline for infants, CPSC said. The new safety standard covers all high chairs manufactured or imported on or after June 19, 2019.
Though CPSC had been considering different treatment for restaurant high chairs, including a possible exemption, the final standard adopted by CPSC treats restaurant high chairs the same as high chairs for consumer use. Hazards from restaurant high chairs are similar to those in homes, primarily involving children falling from high chairs, CPSC said. “In addition, CPSC staff identified four firms that sell restaurant-style high chairs to both restaurants and consumers,” the commission said.
(Federal Register 06/19/18)