House Approves Child Safety Bills

October 10, 2007, WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives approved four bipartisan bills to ensure that some common consumer products are safer for children, announced U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon.

“Drowning is the second highest cause of accidental deaths among American children, but something as simple as a safe drain cover can prevent many deaths and injuries. A child-resistant cap on a gas can or a recall notice sent directly to a parent may save a child’s life,” said Gordon. “These solutions should be common sense, but they’re not always the common practice.”

The bills passed by the House Tuesday (Oct. 9) would help to protect children from injury or death caused by swimming pool drains, gasoline containers and faulty cribs.

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, H.R. 1721, would require the use of proper anti-entrapment drain covers in pools and spas to prevent drowning caused by drain suction. Safe drain covers are designed to prevent the swirling action that tends to cause suction. The bill also establishes a federal grant program to promote swimming pool safety.

The bill is named after a seven-year-old girl who died after being caught in the suction on the drain of a spa. She was the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker.

The Danny Keysar Child Product Safety Notification Act, H.R. 1699, would require manufacturers of high chairs, cribs, strollers and other durable infant and toddler products to notify consumers directly during a recall. Currently, manufacturers rely heavily on the media to let consumers know of recalls. The bill requires manufacturers to provide postage-paid, privacy-protected recall registration cards with the products to allow consumers to register them by mail.

The bill is named after a 16-month-old boy who died in 1998 when the portable crib he was sleeping in collapsed. The crib had been recalled 5 years earlier, but his parents were unaware of the recall.

The Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act, H.R. 814, would require child-resistant caps for all gasoline containers. Current law requires the caps for containers sold with gasoline inside, while empty containers do not require the child-resistant caps.

The fourth bill, H.R. 2474, the Product Safety Civil Penalties Improvement Act, provides an incentive for companies to report safety problems by increasing the maximum civil penalty for violations of the Consumer Product Safety Act from $1.82 million to 10 million.

“These four child safety bills are the beginning of a broader effort to improve safety for our nation’s children,” said Gordon. “Later this year, we will consider a bill to drastically improve the safety of our children by requiring third-party testing of toys, banning lead in children’s jewelry and products, and providing greater resources to the understaffed Consumer Product Safety Commission.”