Commenters who opposed the mandatory rule included an industry trade association and an independent testing laboratory that operates a third-party certification program. The laboratory suggested CPSC recognize its certification program and encourage manufacturers to join it as CPSC now does for some juvenile products certification programs. Staff dismissed that suggestion, saying that such a certification program would have no significant effect on the degree of conformance to the ASTM standard. The proposed rule primarily addresses entrapment hazards. Such hazards are also addressed by the current ASTM standard.
New data collected in the past year include an update of entrapment incidents.
Of the three incidents involving beds that did meet the ASTM standard, two involved entrapment in the upper bunk. Ever since the first Guidelines on Bunk Beds were issued, companies have included warnings on their products against placing children under six years on the top bunk. That warning is now on the box containing the bunk bed, on a hangtag, and is also placed directly on the product. The tragic fatalities that occurred to the first two children could have been prevented had they not been placed on the upper bunk, as the warning labels advise. In a recall notice issued in November 1998, CPSC and manufacturers again warned about putting children under six years old in the top bunk.