Highchair safety improved
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission continues to address safety standard issue to make highchairs used in homes and in restaurants exponentially safer for children. The CPSC made these changes on June 19, 2019, according to WHNT.com. The initial set of standards applied prospectively, meaning that highchairs either manufactured in the United States or imported into the U.S. must comply with the standards beginning back on June 19, 2019. The safety standard is mandatory for all highchairs.
The CPSC announced the new highchair safety standard to eliminate the risk of death or serious injury to all children but infants and toddlers in particular. The mandatory safety rules establish the minimum height and stability requirements for highchairs. Also, the highchair regulations set forth more stringent standards for child restraints affixed to the highchairs. Finally, the latest regulations require highchair manufacturers to prominently post a warning sign on the highchair that alerts parents and guardians to the possibility of death or serious injury to a child if the highchair tips over with a baby seated in it.
The CPSC used data is collected to demonstrate why it deemed it necessary to pronounce more stringent standards for highchairs in the U.S. According to the CPSC, in the last two years, 18,500 children received treatment in U.S. hospitals for highchair incidents. Injuries to children most often occur when the child attempts to stand in the highchair and falls out or tries to push away from the highchair and tips the unit over. Additionally, children sustain injuries from falling out of highchairs or tipping over when the seat’s restraints fail to work as designed, the tray falls off, or the locking mechanisms fail.
The CPSC recommends that parents keep a close watch over their child at all times and use the restraints when the child is in the highchair. Using the tray exclusively as a safety device is insufficient. Additionally, the CPSC recommends that parents use the safest models on the market, such as those sold on or after June 19, 2019, and refuse to allow their child to try to climb out of the highchair.
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