Six Manufacturers Halt Sale Of Baby Gates

Description

Six Manufacturers Halt Sale Of Baby Gates Commission Announces Agreement with six manufacturers of V-shaped accordion style baby gates to halt voluntarily further production and distribution. The Commission staff believes these gates present a strangulation hazard in the V-shapes along the top edge of the gate and in the diamond-shaped openings in the body of the gate. These gates are commonly used to block entry of infants and children to stairs and other rooms in a home. This action was taken by the Commission after an eighth death involving an accordion style gate occurred in Meridian, Idaho, in October, 1984. In that incident, an 11-month old infant died from strangulation when his head became entrapped in a diamond-shaped opening in the body of an accordion style gate. Since 1975, the Commission is aware of seven additional deaths when children's heads became entrapped either in the V-shaped openings along the top edge or in the diamond-shaped opening of the accordion style gates. There have been at least another 23 non-fatal incidents associated with these gates. The firms that agreed to stop producing and distributing the accordion style gates are Madison Mill Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; Mapes Industries Inc., Great Neck, New York; North States Industries, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nu-Line Industries Inc., Suring, Wisconsin; Paris Industries, South Paris, Maine; and Worldbest Industries, Cudahy, Wisconsin. The companies stated that these actions are not an admission that these products present a substantial product hazard. At the same time the Commission accepted each firm's proposal to stop production and distribution, it instructed the staff to consider regulatory options if any firms market accordion style gates in their present design after January 31, 1985. In requesting that accordion style gates not be manufactured or distributed by the six firms or any other firm after January 31, 1985, the Commission recognized that other styles of baby gates are available that do not present the strangulation hazard. Examples includes gates with a straight top edge and rigid mesh screen, gates with plastic grids, and gates with vertical slates. Additionally, a number of the six manufacturers are considering future modifications to their accordion style gates which apparently would eliminate the strangulation hazard. The Commission is continuing to work with the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, through the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), to develop a voluntary industry-wide standard that addresses the issue of head entrapment and other risks related to all baby gates. The Commission warns consumers of the potential for strangulation in the V-shaped top edge and in the diamond-shaped openings in the body of the accordion-style gates. Consumers are urged to use other style gates which are safer and which do not present the head and neck entrapment hazard. The action taken by the Commission does not affect the estimated 10 to 15 million accordion style gates in use today and does not prevent retailers from continuing to sell accordion style gates now in their inventory.