Consumer Products Subcommittee to Work on Infant Bathtub Standard
ASTM International Committee F15 on Consumer Products invites manufacturers of infant bathtubs to attend and participate in meetings to continue the development of proposed new standard, WK12969, Consumer Safety Specification for Infant Bathtubs. The proposed standard is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee F15.20 on Bath Seats.
WK12969 will establish performance requirements, test methods and labeling requirements to promote the safe use of infant bathtubs. The intent of the proposed standard is to reduce the risk of death and minimize injury to infants resulting from the use and reasonably foreseeable abuse of infant bath tubs.
Paul Ware, president, PW Resources, Inc., and a past vice president of quality at both The First Years and Safety 1st, notes that the impetus to develop WK12969 was a letter that the Consumer Product Safety Commission sent to ASTM International and to the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association requesting that a standard be developed for infant bathtubs. The letter detailed incidents in which infants died or were injured in infant tubs.
“By creating safety, performance and labeling requirements for the development and manufacture of infant bathtubs, the intent is to reduce the number and severity of incidents involving infants when using these products,” says Ware. “By including this product category in the JPMA Certification Program utilizing the proposed ASTM standard, we hope to increase the number of manufacturers that use the standard to guide their product development and manufacturing activities to produce a high quality, safe product.
“Input from bathtub manufacturers is vital in helping to develop this standard further,” says Ware. “Governmental and/or consumer representatives are also encouraged to participate and share their views with respect to it.”//
CONTACT
Technical Information: Paul Ware, PW Resources, Inc., Stoughton, Mass.
Phone: 781/341-2488
ASTM Staff: Katharine Morgan
Phone: 610/832-9721
Upcoming Meeting:
March 19-22
ASTM International Headquarters
West Conshohocken, Pa.
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