North Carolina Product Liability Blog : North Carolina Product Liability Lawyer & Attorney : D. Hardison Wood : Toy Safety, Child Restraint, Car Seats

When you think of a product liability case you may think of automobiles, air bags, and other big items failing.  Or you may think of child safety issues such as recalls involving cribs and toys. Not often do you think of furniture and mattresses. However, these products do fail. And when these dangerous items  make it into the marketplace  they pose risks to the public. In the past we have heard of furniture catching on fire when it should not have, and today the CPSC announced a recall of 6,100 Serta mattresses because they fail to meet mandatory federal safety standards for mattresses.

Name of Product: Serta Zipper-Covered Foam Core Mattresses

Units: About 6,100

Manufacturer: Serta International Mattress Co., of Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Hazard: The mattresses fail to meet the mandatory federal open flame standard for mattresses, posing a fire hazard to consumers.

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The CPSC announced today a recall of 985,000 Delta Enterprise Drop Side Cribs. Apparently there are missing safety pegs which can lead to entrapment and suffocation.

When the safety pegs in the base of each leg of the crib are missing from the lower track, the crib locks can disengage and detach if lowered below the peg hole, creating a hazardous gap. This gap can lead to the entrapment and suffocation of an infant or toddler.

CPSC staff is aware of a death of an 8-month-old child who became entrapped and suffocated when the drop side of the crib detached in a reassembled crib where the safety pegs were not installed. CPSC is also aware of two entrapments and nine disengagement incidents in cribs where the safety pegs were missing.

The recalled cribs have date codes ranging from 1995 though December 2005 and one model (4624) was made in 2007. The model numbers are located on the top of the mattress support board.

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An infant death has prompted the recall of approximately 2,000 convertible cribs by Playkids USA. The mesh siding expands and can cause gaps between the matress and sides. This allows room enough for an infant to fall into the space, become entrapped and possibly suffocate. A 5 month old child died in August 2008when he became entrapped and suffocated.

This recall involves the Playkids U.S.A. convertible crib/playpen/bassinet/bed with model number PLK-909. “Playkids U.S.A.” can be found on the packaging and on a label sewn into the side of the crib. The model number can be found on the packaging. The convertible cribs have a drop side rail, a stationary side rail, a canopy assembly, and a bassinet. The sides of the convertible crib, the mattress support, the bassinet, the canopy and the bedskirt are covered in fabric and mesh. The fabric and the mesh come in a variety of colors and patterns. read the notice

With the tremendous amount of recalls occurring involving children products, especially cribs, we have to wonder what's going on with testing of the products prior to their public sale.

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The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute have put out a new study with regard to booster seats - they found 13 booster seats do not position the belt properly on children. This study did not look at the crashworthiness of the seats but rather the belt positioning. As we know booster seats help prop children up higher, with a goal of making sure the car's seat belt is in the correct position.

The seat belt is meant to be routed across a child's lower hips and mid-shoulders instead of the abdomen because the liver and spleen are more vulnerable to injuries. Story

This of course does not mean and should not be taken to mean that parents should opt not to use a booster seat at all- it just means that parents need to ensure that the one they are using at least has the seat belt positioned in the proper location.

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