USA: CPSC updates safety standard for gates and enclosures

USA: CPSC updates safety standard for gates and enclosures

NOVEMBER 2022 - TOYS AND CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS

On 14 November 2022, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a direct final rule¹ to update the ASTM standard incorporated by reference in the Safety Standard for Gates and Enclosures codified at 16 CFR part 1239, to reflect the most recent version of the ASTM standard, ASTM F1004-22² with no modifications. The updated standard will apply from 21 January 2023 unless the Commission receives significant adverse input by 14 December this year. 

The revision to ASTM F1004-22 consists of changes to the illustrated examples of warning labels referenced as Figures in Section 8.4.7. The warning statement “You MUST install wall cups to keep the gate in place. Without wall cups, child can push out and escape” was removed from Figures 8 through 10 and the same warning statement is shown as a standalone label in a new Figure 11. This change reflects the requirement in Section 8.5.7 for pressure-mounted gates to have a separate warning, specific to the installation of wall cups, if the design of that gate relies on the wall cups to meet the push‑out force requirements. 
 
Figure. 11 Example Separate Wall Cup Installation Warning: 

ASTM F1004-22 revises the warning statement on the product, which does not necessitate a change in the way that third-party conformity assessment bodies test these products. Therefore, the Commission considers the existing accreditations for testing to ASTM F1004 as sufficient for testing to the revised standard. 

[1] Federal Register Vol. 87, No. 218

[2] ASTM F1004-22