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$ 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*O F*PROPOSED*RULEMAKING*(NPR):*CPSIA*SECTION*104 : Safety*Standard*for*Play*Yards :* 16*CFR*Part*1221 CPSC*DOCKET*Number:*CPSC

J 2011

J 0064

Dear!Mr.!Stevenson ,!
For! fifteen! years Arm’s! Reach! has ! been! manufacturing! well

$ constructed! and! safe! products! with! great!

su ccess.!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.! Greg ory!K. !Rea! dated !April!27 ,!2012.!As!noted! in! the! e

$ mail,! Arm’s! Reach! is! concerned! w ith! 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! timelin e!in!which!the!test!method!has!been! developed!has!unnecessarily!accelerated!the! ASTM! ba lloting!
process.
It!is!the!opinion!of!Arm’s!Reach!that!t he!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! th e! 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 ! h ad!all! four! clips! been! attached ! properly ! to! th e! product ,! this! unfortunate! and! tragic! event! could! have! been! averted

.! While! we! support! the! CPSC! in! their! effort! to! elimina te! 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!d ue! to!increased! testing!requirements ! for! the!play!yard! product.!Now!I!am!worried!we! will! be! forced! to! devote !more! resource s!into! re

$ engineering,! producin g! 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!exc luded.!
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!propos ed!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!plas tic!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!wa s!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!dislod ged,!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!requ ires!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