New federal standards aimed at making portable bed rails safer for children have been adopted by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
A portable bed rail is used on the side of an adult bed to keep children, typically age 2 to 5 years old, from falling out of the bed.
The standard includes the following requirements:
The bed rail must not create a dangerous gap with the mattress into which a child can fall.
The bed rails must be tested to ensure the hardware is permanently attached and that they can’t be assembled in an unsafe manner.
The railings must contain improved warnings on labels as well as instructions.
Installation components must be permanently attached and must also have a warning label.
The railings must not have unsafe edges, points or small parts.
Most importantly, the rails should not be used with children under two years of age.
The federal standard will go into effect six months after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register.
You can read more on the CPSC Web site.
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