Online cot vendors penalised as ACCC announces major review of safety standards

By Esther Han
Updated August 7 2014 - 5:13am, first published 4:48am
A baby girl sleeps ... the ACCC is reviewing safety standards for cots, strollers and bunk beds. Photo: Stock
A baby girl sleeps ... the ACCC is reviewing safety standards for cots, strollers and bunk beds. Photo: Stock
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard: 'Updating the mandatory standards will assist with the ACCC's??s efforts to identify and remove unsafe products from the market.' Photo: Supplied
ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard: 'Updating the mandatory standards will assist with the ACCC's??s efforts to identify and remove unsafe products from the market.' Photo: Supplied

Two eBay vendors have been penalised for selling non-compliant cots that could have severely injured or killed babies, the consumer watchdog said, as it launched a national review of mandatory standards for cots, strollers and bunk beds.

New Aim Pty Ltd, which trades as OzPlaza.Living, received a $10,200 fine for selling 400 non-compliant cots between May and September last year. The 'wooden sleigh 3-in-1' product posed many risks to infants, including suffocation and entrapment.

Sole trader Le Tian, who operates Saving For Aussie on eBay, was also penalised $2040 for supplying 275 'Canterbury' cots which breached the mandatory standard.

Both have accepted court-enforceable undertakings with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Nearly 5500 household cots have been recalled since 2013, with the latest model being the Frank Masons-branded 'wooden baby sleigh cot bed', which failed various design, safety and performance and marking requirements.

This month, the ACCC released three discussion papers with the aim to keep product safety standards for cots, bunk beds, prams and strollers in line with the latest design trends, technological advances and consumer preferences.

“These products have vulnerable users - children, infants and babies. Mandatory standards are critical tools for maintaining consumer confidence in their safety and minimising the risk of injury,” the ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.

“Updating the mandatory standards will assist with the ACCC’s efforts to identify and remove unsafe products from the market."

The cot review emphasises the need for rigorous drop side strength testing, which could reduce entrapment hazards. Each year, about 170,000 cots are sold in Australia.

Eighteen child deaths in cots have been recorded since 2000. The latest death was in 2007 – two years after the mandatory standard was introduced. Seven of the deaths were in defective, second-hand or modified cots.

“However, advancements in product innovation and product testing since the 2003 version of the voluntary standard was developed … suggest changes to Australian requirements are timely,” the report said.

The pram and stroller review, among many things, calls for amendments to reduce finger injuries.

ACCC data shows that of the 82 records of pram and stroller-related incidents between January 2010 and September 2013, more than half related to finger injuries.

“[Overseas data shows] finger entrapment injuries were evident in many of the hazard patterns, with respect to issues with locking mechanisms, hinges, canopies, handlebars, trays and other areas of the stroller where children or adults may place fingers,” the report said.

Each year, around 740,000 prams and strollers are sold nationally.

The bunk bed review paper says the mandatory standard fails to capture emerging hazards from “more complex and multi-functional products” that have appeared on the market in recent years.

Proposed changes relate to mattress bases, the number of access openings, guard rail stability and minimum recommended age issues.

In the past 16 years, 40 bunk bed models have been recalled. More than half of these occured in the past six years because of issues linked to incomplete guard rails, snag points and dangerous gaps.

“These reviews were not prompted by deaths in Australia this year,” an ACCC spokeswoman said.

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