PETITION TO UNITED STATES CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
In re: 16 CFR § 1051 Petition for Rulemaking
Eliminating Accessible Cords
On Window Covering Products
Petitioners:
Parents for Window Blind Safety
Consumer Federation of America
Consumers Union
Kids in Danger, Public Citizen
U.S. PIRG
Independent Safety Consulting
Safety Behavior Analysis, Inc.
Onder, Shelton, O'Leary & Peterson,
PETITION FOR RULEMAKING
Petitioners, Parents for Window Blind Safety, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Kids in Danger, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG, Independent Safety Consulting, Safety Behavior Analysis, Inc., and Onder, Shelton, O'Leary & Peterson, LLC (hereinafter "Petitioners"), pursuant to 16 CFR § 1051 state to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as follows:
INTRODUCTION
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (hereinafter "CPSC") has long recognized window covering cords as a hidden strangulation and asphyxiation hazard to children and today continues to include it as one of the top five hidden hazards in the home. (CPSC, 2007, CPSC 2013a) Since 1985, the CPSC has worked with and repeatedly pressed the window covering industry (hereinafter "Industry") to eliminate these hazards, through public education, multiple corrective actions, and the voluntary standards development process. Despite these efforts, the voluntary standard (first passed in 1996 and most recently revised in 2012) remains inadequate and continues to permit window coverings with hazardous accessible cords that injure and kill young children.
The unresolved issue of window covering cord injuries and deaths is not limited to the United States. Indeed, global frustration over this on-going hazard resulted in the June
15, 2010 joint action by the CPSC, Health Canada and the European Commission wherein they joined together "in agreement on the need for immediate action," and made a trilateral request to the Industry for "support [of] a swift and comprehensive process that concurrently eliminates the risk factors causing deaths and injuries from all types of corded window covering products." (CPSC, HC, DG SANCO, 2010)
Acting upon the trilateral request, the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (hereinafter "WCMA") undertook a fifth revision of the voluntary standard, ANSI/WCMA A100.1 American National Standard for Safety of Corded Window Covering Products.
When it appeared that the renewed standards writing efforts were not satisfactorily addressing the major hazards responsible for injury and death, CPSC Chair Inez Tenenbaum wrote to the Industry on June 1, 2011, re-invoking the international call for a standard that eliminates window covering hazards, and stating, "I reaffirm to you my call for a comprehensive revised voluntary standard that eliminates – not just reduces – the strangulation risks from window coverings." (CPSC, 2011a) Ultimately, the inadequacy of the voluntary standards process, as well as the inadequate result toward which it was clearly heading, led consumer organizations reluctantly to take the unusual step of walking out of the process. (CFA 2011)
Indeed, the call for a standard that would finally eliminate window covering hazards was disregarded. The voluntary ANSI standards development process failed again, when the fifth revision of the ANSI/WCMA A100.1 standard was approved in late 2012 with critical inadequacies. As will be shown below, 28 years after the CPSC first began working with Industry to address these hazards, the latest version of the standard still does not eliminate the major hazards that have caused approximately 40 percent of the deaths and injuries that have occurred since 1996. In fact, the new standard allows for increasing numbers of hazardous accessible cords to be loaded onto new window coverings. If the ANSI/WCMA A100.1 voluntary standard is allowed to stand as the de facto industry safety standard, children will continue to strangle and asphyxiate on unsafe corded window covering products.
Due to Industry's failure to develop a standard that adequately mitigates the risk of strangulation on corded window coverings, the Petitioners hereby formally Petition for Rulemaking under the authority and process set forth in 16 CFR § 1051, et seq. and request the Commission to promulgate a mandatory standard that prohibits any window covering cords where a feasible cordless alternative exists, and for those instances where a feasible cordless alternative does not exist, requires that all cords be made inaccessible through the use of passive guarding devices.
HISTORY:
THE FAILURE OF THE VOLUNTARY STANDARDS PROCESS
1985 Safety Alert
Following the reporting of 41 deaths on window covering cords between 1973 and 1980 and an additional report of another 35 deaths between 1981 and 1984, the CPSC approached Industry requesting its cooperative effort in issuing a joint Safety Alert. (CPSC, 1985a) CPSC staff met with representatives of Industry on September 13, 1985 and presented a proposed Safety Alert that made several recommendations including the cutting of cord loops. (CPSC,
1985b)
A joint Safety Alert was issued on December 20, 1985, but the recommendation to cut cord loops was not included. In fact, Industry did not accept the recommendation to cut cord loops for another nine years. The recommendations that were incorporated into the 1985 Safety Alert were: 1) Keep cords out of the reach of children and utilize safety devices such as cord cleats; 2) Adjust cords to the shortest possible length for the application; and 3) Do not place cribs or other furniture near windows, for furniture gives children added height to reach cords. (CPSC, 1985c)
A year after the 1985 Safety Alert was issued, the WCMA created camera-ready warnings incorporating some of these safety recommendations and made them available for use by manufacturers as bottom rail labels, hang tags and warning sheets. (DWC, 1988) These warnings were used from 1986 until the adoption of the first voluntary standard in 1996, ANSI/WCMA A100.1- 1996.
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