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Resort Crib & Play Yard Safety Initiative
In February 2000, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a crib and play yard safety initiative to keep children safe when traveling with their families. To learn more, Resort Trades’ Management & Operations interviewed Hal Stratton, Chairman of the CPSC, to discuss the potential hazards associated with cribs and playpens and what the hospitality industry should do to help protect their youngest guests.
MO: What are the problems with cribs and play yards?
HS: Cribs and play yards that meet current mandatory and industry voluntary safety standards provide the greatest degree of safety for babies. However, older products that predate these safety standards may have design features that are hazardous. Cribs and play yards that are brought out of storage may have missing parts that create deadly hazards for an active baby.
MO: How serious are these problems with cribs and play yards?
HS: Cribs are the leading cause of nursery equipment deaths to infants under 12 months. CPSC is aware of 30 crib-related deaths annually. In addition, over a 10-year period, CPSC has learned of 15 deaths in collapsing playpens. Each year babies suffocate or strangle in cribs by becoming trapped between broken or missing crib parts, by becoming wedged between crib side rails and poorly fitted mattresses, or by becoming entrapped in hazardous design features of older cribs. In addition, babies have suffocated in soft bedding such as quilts, comforters or pillows. [EDITOR’S NOTE: None of these statistics reflect injuries or deaths with products in hotels, motels or resort properties.]
MO: What prompted CPSC to look into crib and play yard safety within the hospitality industry?
HS: The National Safe Kids Campaign performed a nationwide spot check of hotels and motels and found 80 percent of those visited had an unsafe crib or play yard. Together, the CPSC and SAFE KIDS launched a national initiative aimed at hotels and motels to keep children safe when traveling with their families.
MO: How does this problem affect the resort/timeshare industry?
HS: In addition to being Chairman of CPSC, I am also a father of two young girls. As a parent, their health and safety is always one of major my concerns. When we travel with our daughters, I expect the space I’m renting at a hotel or resort to have not only been furnished with creature comforts, but with furniture and equipment that is as safe as possible. I think other travelers have the same expectations.
Families traveling with infants and small children use cribs and play yards provided by motels, hotels and resorts. Estimates show that children under age 2 spend more than seven million nights per year in hotels, motels and resorts. You have told me there are an estimated 1,800 resort and timeshare destinations in the United States. When cribs and play yards are used for a number of years and are constantly being dismantled and stored before use by another guest, the safety of these products can become a serious issue. I think you can see the potential magnitude of the problem for your industry.
MO: What can the hospitality industry do to keep children safe?
HS: I urge each of your readers to develop a crib and play yard safety program. CPSC has a number of materials available for the resort industry to use in developing such a program. Our Hospitality Industry Crib Safety Guidelines gives a step-by-step guide for ensuring that cribs and play yards used in your readers’ facilities are safe. The Guidelines include a listing of CPSC publications on crib and crib bedding safety that your readers can use to develop their programs. One of these publications is an inspection checklist – Hotel and Motel Crib and Play Yard Checklist.
MO: How can our readers get copies of these materials?
HS: Click on CPSC’s Web at http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/cribsafe.html"> www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/cribsafe.html and download the files on crib safety.
MO: You mentioned crib bedding. What hazards exist with crib bedding that our readers should be aware of as they develop crib or play yard safety programs?
HS: CPSC recommends that parents place babies under 12 months of age to sleep on their backs in cribs with no soft bedding. That includes pillows, quilts, and comforters. Resorts should provide tight-fitting bottom crib sheets with each crib. Adult sheets should never be used in a crib because they pose a strangulation and suffocation risk to babies. Crib blankets, if used, should be thin and lightweight.
MO: Is there anything else our readers should know about crib safety?
HS: Yes. I would encourage all of your readers to check the CPSC Web site at www.cpsc.gov or call our hotline at 800-638-2772 to ensure that the make or model of the cribs and play yards they use have not been recalled.