JPMA, Crib Manufacturers Revise ASTM Voluntary Crib Standards

In 2009, the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association, via the ASTM consensus-standard-setting process, was involved in the establishment and approval of a revised voluntary standard to eliminate drop-side cribs from the marketplace. Last week, JPMA representatives and members of the crib-manufacturing community met with other key stakeholders and representatives from the Consumer Product Safety Commission at ASTM headquarters to make additional changes to further enhance this voluntary standard, ASTM F 1169.

“JPMA members are always looking for ways to improve and enhance cribs and other baby products,” Michael Dwyer, executive director of JPMA, says. “By participating in ASTM meetings and the consensus-standard-setting process, our members are able to review incident data, and provide suggested product enhancements and financial, engineering and manpower support that otherwise would not be available to help expedite the process.”

Crib manufacturers also contributed to improving the safety of infant products by offering the additional testing and the engineering expertise necessary to create the highest safety standard available anywhere in the world.

The new version of the ASTM voluntary standard includes the following enhancements:

• Continues to eliminate drop-side cribs from the marketplace
• Bolsters the strength of crib slats and/or spindles
• Adds a vertical-mattress-impact test
• Eliminates wood screws from key structural elements
• Adds more tests to improve the structure of the crib including anything that would impact the failure of the crib (i.e. loosening of parts, failure of locking or latching items, etc.)