by AHFA says that ASTM Furniture Safety Subcommittee is working to correct the discrepancies
HIGH POINT — The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has said that its compliance division will accept two slightly differently worded warning statements alerting consumers to the dangers of tip-over incidents of clothing storage units until the standard is updated to align them.
The labeling is required on clothing storage units manufactured after Sept. 1, 2023. However, certain test labs were initially failing some units as noncompliant because of the differences in the wording found on warning labels and the actual text of the mandatory safety standard.
One warning label cited “Anti-tip device” where the word “anti” in the standard itself was not capitalized. With other labels, the word “any” was omitted from the statement advising parents to “NEVER allow children to stand, climb or hang on drawers, doors, or shelves.” It should read “NEVER allow children to stand, climb, or hang on any drawers, doors, or shelves.”
In a recently issued statement, Robert S. Kaye, CPSC director of the office of compliance and field operations, said, “Compliance assessed the differences between the warning statement and the figure examples in the standard and determined they are unlikely to affect consumers’ understanding of the warning message. Compliance will accept either warning until such time as the standard is updated to align them.”
The AHFA said that the ASTM Furniture Safety Subcommittee is working to update the standard with these discrepancies corrected.
