The standards, updates of ASTM F1169, Consumer Safety Specification for Full-Size Baby Cribs, and ASTM F406, Consumer Safety Specification for Non-Full-Size Baby Cribs/Play Yards, were both developed by ASTM International, a member and audited designator of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). These guidelines, approved by ASTM on June 1, 2010, incorporate significant updates to improve the safety of children's sleeping environments.
Based on recently published versions of the standards, the guidelines were developed following CPSC chairman Inez M. Tenenbaum's request to ASTM to enlist industry's help with the CPSC initiative to have a new mandatory regulation covering full-size and non-full-size cribs in place by the end of 2010. ASTM evaluated existing outdated federal regulations, worked with the CPSC to determine gaps or possible hazards in these standards, and developed new testing methods to assure safety. From these evaluations, the following revisions were made to the existing standards:
ASTM F 1169: adds requirement that cribs to be tested without the re-tightening of screws between tests in order to ensure that the tests reflect the lifetime use of the crib.
ASTM F 406: adds certain requirements that apply to full-size cribs, such as the mattress support performance requirement, the side-impact test, and the order in which performance tests are to be done; restores movable side-latch tests to the non-full-size crib standard and clarifies that the proposal does not extend to play yards.
To learn more, see the ASTM news release and the CPSC news release.