Standardization News

ASTM International’s consumer products committee (F15) is creating a safety specification for infant bathers in an effort to reduce injuries and deaths from drowning and falls. Bathers have become more popular in recent years, helping parents and others bathe newborns and infants in a reclined position.

According to member Julia Costello, the proposed specification (WK63506) was developed after a group within the committee reviewed incident data and identified a need to address serious incidents.

“After examining the data, a need arose to address deaths and serious injuries that came from drowning and fall accidents,” said Costello, a senior manager of compliance engineering with Vista Outdoor and chair of the subcommittee on infant bathers. “This specification seeks to provide a baseline for these products moving forward in an effort to reduce incidents and deaths.”

This standard will be most useful to the consumer product industry, specifically juvenile product manufacturers and users.

ASTM welcomes participation in the development of its standards. Become a member at www.astm.org/JOIN. The next meeting of the committee’s juvenile-products subcommittees is Oct. 15-18, at ASTM International Headquarters in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania (USA).