Wooden and Metal Bunk Beds Recall

Wooden and Metal Bunk Beds Recall NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 Note: Firm phone number change, Firm out of business FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:Ken Giles Originally issued September 24, 1997; Revised July 9, 2001 (301) 504-7052 Release # 97-193 CPSC, Manufacturers, Importers Announce Recall of Wooden and Metal Bunk Beds WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), five bunk bed manufacturers and importers are voluntarily recalling about 16,500 wooden and metal bunk beds. The bunk beds have openings on the top bunk that present a potential entrapment hazard to young children. The spaces can be large enough for a child's body to pass through, but small enough to entrap the child's head. Since November 1994, CPSC and 36 manufacturers and importers have announced recalls of more than 514,500 wooden and metal bunk beds with similar entrapment hazards. In response to this action, the manufacturers and importers participating in this recall also have identified wooden and metal bunk beds with similar entrapment hazards. Since 1990, CPSC has received reports of 35 children who died from becoming caught in the top of wooden bunk beds. Thirty-four of those children were 3 years old or younger. In addition, CPSC has received reports of five children who died from becoming caught in the top of metal bunk beds. All five children were 2 years old or younger. A recent death occurred on April 24, 1997. A 3-year-old girl died from becoming caught in a wooden bunk bed manufactured by Heartland Furniture. CPSC is not aware of any additional deaths related to the other manufacturers and importers participating in this recall. The ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) voluntary standard for bunk beds requires that, in addition to having guardrails on both sides of the top bunk, all spaces between the guardrail and bed frame, and in the head