CPSC, National SAFE KIDS Campaign Announce Crib Safety Initiative; Bass Hotels and Resorts Joins Safety Campaign
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign today announced a crib and play yard
safety initiative to keep children safe when traveling with their
families. Recent spot checks by SAFE KIDS found unsafe cribs and play
yards in 80 percent of hotels and motels visited.
Bass Hotels & Resorts, which includes the Inter-Continental,
Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Crowne Plaza
brands is joining the new safety initiative. CPSC invited 24 national
hotel chains to participate in the safety initiative, but only Bass
Hotels & Resorts agreed. CPSC and SAFE KIDS are encouraging other
hotels and motels to participate and have prepared safety information
that they can use to ensure their cribs are not hazardous.
Bass Hotels & Resorts will provide additional training for staff
and hold a "Crib Safety Week" where each hotel's housekeeping and
maintenance staff will conduct a thorough inspection of all cribs and
play yards. The ongoing inspections will help ensure that the cribs and
play yards meet current safety standards, are in good repair and have
not been recalled. Bass Hotels & Resorts also plans to include crib
safety information in hotel publications and on its website, and promote
crib safety in media events targeted to begin around Mother's Day. The
company has 2,800 hotels worldwide, including more than 1,300 in the
United States.
Many traveling families use cribs and play yards provided by
motels and hotels. Estimates show that children under age 2 spend more
than 7 million nights per year in hotels, motels and resorts. CPSC
estimates that there are about 65,000 hotels and motels in the U.S.
SAFE KIDS recently visited 90 hotels and motels in 27 states and
the District of Columbia. Of the cribs inspected, 82 percent had at
least one safety hazard, including loose hardware or lack of secured
mattress supports that could entrap a baby; soft bedding, including
quilts, comforters or pillows that could cause suffocation; and adult-
sized sheets that pose a strangulation and suffocation hazard. Of the
play yards and mesh cribs inspected, 52 percent had at least one safety
hazard, including tears or holes in the meshing, which pose an
entrapment risk to babies, and soft bedding.
The SAFE KIDS spot check gives a snapshot of what consumers might
find while traveling.
Each year, about 40 babies suffocate or strangle in their cribs
when they become trapped between broken crib parts or in cribs with
older, unsafe designs. Soft bedding such as quilts, comforters or
pillows can suffocate a baby. As many as 3,000 infants die each year
from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and up to one-third of these
may have suffocated on soft bedding. CPSC recommends that a baby under
12 months be put to sleep in a crib on his or her back with no soft
bedding. Adult sheets should never be used in a crib because they pose a
strangulation and suffocation risk to babies. Hotels and motels should
provide fitted crib sheets in good condition that fit the mattress
securely.
"Whether the hotel is on 5th Avenue or Main Street, there's no
guarantee the crib you request will be safe and in good repair," said
CPSC Chairman Ann Brown. "Parents who are traveling should not have to
worry about the place they put their child down to sleep. I'm pleased
that Bass Hotels and Resorts is joining this safety campaign. I'm very
disappointed that other hotels are not participating."
Heather Paul, Executive Director of the National SAFE KIDS
Campaign, said: "This informal assessment simply raises a red flag for
the hotel industry that they might unknowingly be putting babies at
risk. We want hotels to know there are simple steps they can take to
help ensure a safe sleeping environment for their youngest guests."
Thomas R. Oliver, Chairman and CEO of Bass Hotels & Resorts, said:
"The safety of all of our guests has always been one of the foundations
of our business. We are committed to taking the necessary steps to help
ensure that the cribs in use at our properties around the world are safe
for our youngest guests."
CPSC and SAFE KIDS have prepared information that hotels and
motels, as well as consumers, can use to make sure cribs and play yards
are not hazardous. The information will be made available to hotels and
motels to help them develop their own safety programs. Local SAFE KIDS
chapters will distribute a crib safety checklist to hotels and motels
around the country. Hotels and motels can download the crib and play yard
safety inspection checklist and CPSC crib safety and recall information here or by calling the CPSC hotline at
1-800-638-2772.
CPSC encourages parents to ask ahead if the hotel or motel in which they
are planning to stay has a system in place to ensure their cribs are
safe.
Conumers can also view a video clip about crib safety (Transcript). It is about 9 megabytes long and the download time depends upon the speed of your Internet connection.