CO$SLEEPER®!BRAND!BASSINET!Arms!Reach!Concepts May!14,!2012!

2221!Celsius!Ave!#!D!Oxnard,!Ca.!93030

805!751!1632!Fax!805!604!7982

Office!of!the!Secretary

U.S.!Consumer!Product!Safety!Commission

4330!East!West!Highway

Bethesda,!MD!20814

Re: NOTICE*OF*PROPOSED*RULEMAKING*(NPR):*CPSIA*SECTION*104: 

Safety*Standard*for*Play*Yards:*16*CFR*Part*1221

CPSC*DOCKET*Number:*CPSCJ2011J0064

Dear!Mr.!Stevenson,!

For! fifteen! years Arm’s! Reach! has! been! manufacturing! well$constructed! and! safe! products! with! great!

success.!To!that!end,!I!am!writing! to!address!issues!regarding!the!pending!rulemaking!for!Play!Yards,!16!

CFR!1221.

Attached,!please!see!my!correspondence!addressed!to!Mr.!Gregory!K.!Rea!dated!April!27,!2012.!As!noted!

in! the! e$mail,! Arm’s! Reach! is! concerned! with! the! proposed! test!method! to! address! play! yard! bassinet!

attachment!misassembly;! in! our! opinion,!both! the! rationale! it!is! based! upon!as!well!as! the!accelerated!

timeline!in!which!the!test!method!has!been!developed!has!unnecessarily!accelerated!the!ASTM!balloting!

process.

It!is!the!opinion!of!Arm’s!Reach!that!the!IDI!cited!by!the!CPSC!as! the!impetus!for!this!requirement!does!

not!address!the!hazard!created!when!the!bassinet!attachment!is!incorrectly!assembled!to!the!play!yard.

Instead,! our! thought! is that! the! incident! is! the! result! of! the! failed! attachment! device,! specifically! the!

plastic!clips.!We!believe!a!situation!where!one!of! the!metal!rods!is!missing!would!not!have!caused! this!

tragic!event;! we! believe! that! had!all! four! clips! been! attached! properly! to! the! product,! this! unfortunate!

and! tragic! event! could! have! been! averted.! While! we! support! the! CPSC! in! their! effort! to! eliminate! this!

hazard,!we!cannot!agree!to!a!change!that,!in!addition!to!not!producing!the!desired!end!result!of!a!safer!

product,!will!have!a!significant!negative!impact!on!manufacturers as!well.

We!have!incurred!significant! financial!expenses!due! to!increased! testing!requirements! for! the!play!yard!

product.!Now!I!am!worried!we! will!be! forced! to! devote!more!resources!into! re$engineering,! producing!

new!molds,!manufacturing!a!re$designed!product,!as!well!as!issues!such!as!the!need for!larger!packaging,!

etc.!All!of!these!will!be!extremely!costly!changes!to!make!to!an!already!safe!product.
The!‘Mattress!Flatness!Test’!task!group!for!the!bassinet!and!cradle!product!category!has!been!working!on!

a!repeatable!surface!flatness!test!for!approximately!two!years!without!a!conclusion.!It!is!of!great!concern!

to!me!that!the!‘Play!Yard!Misassembly’!task!group,!working!on!this!test!method!for!only!two!months,!has

produced!something!that!being!rush!through!the!ASTM!balloting!process.!This!is!a!complex!issue!and!we!

are!concerned!that!if!the!proper!time!is!not!allotted!for!additional!research,!there!is!a!strong!chance!that!

product!on!the!market!like!ours!would!be!excluded.!

After!15!years!of!building!safe!and!strong!products,!we!are!greatly!concerned!that!we!will!now!be!faced!

with!this!sudden!change.!Your!help!in!this!matter!is!greatly!appreciated.!

Sincerely,

Sharon!Forshpan,!CEO!Arm's!Reach!Concepts,!Inc.!

W:!805.751.1632!

C:!310.892.7702

“Below!is!email!sent!to!Greg!Rea!on!April!27,!2012”!

Hi!Greg,

Regarding!the!new!test!proposed!on!the!Bassinet!in!Play!Yard!Misassembly,!we!feel!the!direction!this!

proposed!language!is!going!is!seriously!flawed.!

This!newly!proposed!regulation!is!the!unfortunate!result!of!a!single!IDI#!110825CAA2853,!June!2011.!This!

report!stated!that!the!incident!was!due!to!'One!of!the!corners!of!the!bassinet!attachment!became!

detached!from!the!frame!of!the!play!yard!as!a!result!of!one!of!the!plastic!clasps!somehow!becoming!

dislodged!from!the!frame!of!the!play!yard'.!Nowhere!in!this!report!says!any!part!was!missing.!Even!if!the!

actual!scenario!was!a!bit!different!from!the!written!report!as!explained!to!us!at!the!last!meeting!that!

indeed!one!part!was!missing,!the!fact!that!with!the!second!part!(the!plastic!clasp)!being!dislodged!was!

the!main!reason!that!contributed!to!this!incident.!There!are!plenty!of!play!yard!in!the!market!with!clasp!

system!for!attachment,!if!one!of!those!plastic!clasps!was!dislodged,!similar!incident!would!happen!too.!

Are!we!going!to!address!that!too!right!now?!

Our!Original!and!Mini!Convertible!models!are!of!completely!different!design!than!most!of!the!Play!

Yard/Bassinet!in!the!market.!We!do!not!use!the!plastic!clasp!system.!The!Bar!and!Hanger!set!we!use!are!

so!obvious!that!all!parts!are!needed!to!comprise!the!Bassinet!support.!There!had!never!been!one!misuse!

due!to!the!missing!parts!of!the!Bar!and!Hanger!set!in!the!whole!15!years.!This!system!also!provides!a!very!

flat!and!sturdy!sleeping!surface!in!the!bassinet!which!is!the!goal!that!we!are!all!trying!to!achieve!in!the!

'Mattress!Flatness!Test'!subcommittee!as!we!all!know.!

In!order!to!pass!the!standard!5.19.2.1.!and!test!8.31!in!the!proposed!language,!we!will!have!to!find!a!way!

to!make!our!product!easily!'fail'!!This!is!counterintuitive!to!a!company!that!has!exerted!enormous!efforts!
to!anticipate!every!form!of!"reasonable!misuse"!to!ensure!the!safety!of!infants!even!if!their!parents!fail!to!

follow!instructions.!This!regulation!requires!us!to!dial!backward!from!ensuring!safety!to!ensuring!

catastrophic!failure.!

The!FIFTEEN!years!of!experience!from!manufacturing!and!marketing!these!two!products!enabled!us!with!

a!strong!safety!record.!The!design!even!provides!safeguard!so!that!no!harm!will!come!to!the!infants!if!

misuse!does!happen.!And!we!all!know!there!will!always!be!misuse!by!some!irresponsible!adults.!To!

minimize!the!misuse!is!our!biggest!goal!and!our!safety!record!confirms!that.!

I!am!requesting!that!CPSC!and!the!subcommittee!to!put!more!thoughts!into!the!current!process!we!are!

on.!And!more!time!to!be!allowed!for!the!subcommittee!to!come!up!with!something!that!is!more!

thoughtful!and!inclusive!so!that!products!like!ours!that!had!been!on!the!market!for!15!years!with!good!

safety!record!will!not!be!excluded.!

Thank!you!for!your!consideration!and!I!would!be!happy!to!discuss!anytime!convenient!for!you.!

Sincerely,!

Sharon!Forshpan,!CEO!Arm's!Reach!Concepts,!Inc.!

W:!805.751.1632!

C:!310.892.7702!
From: Stevenson, Todd

To: Hammond, Rocky; Heggs, Angela

Subject: FW: Letter from Arm"s Reach Concepts, Inc.

Date: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 8:10:30 AM

Attachments: Arm"s Reach letter.pdf

Add to supporting materials

Todd Stevenson

Director, The Secretariat

(Office of the Secretary)

Office of the General Counsel

US Consumer Product Safety Commission

(301) 504-6836, Fax (301) 504-0127

-----Original Message-----

From: Sharon Forshpan [mailto:sforshpan@earthlink.net]

Sent: Wednesday, May 16, 2012 3:15 AM

To: Stevenson, Todd

Cc: Mike Dwyer; Megan Capie

Subject: Letter from Arm's Reach Concepts, Inc.

Dear Mr. Stevenson,

The attached letter was sent to you via registered mail yesterday. In case you have not received, here

is the electronic form for your review.

The letter is self explanatory. If there is any question, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Your help in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Sharon Forshpan

CEO Arm's Reach Concepts, Inc.

W: 805.751.1632

C. 310.892.7702