[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 90 (Thursday, May 9, 2002)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 31165-31166]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11327]



[[Page 31165]]

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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 1500


Baby Walkers; Termination of Rulemaking

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Termination of rulemaking.

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SUMMARY: In August of 1994 the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission 
(CPSC or Commission) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking 
under authority of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) stating 
that it had reason to believe that baby walkers might present an 
unreasonable risk of injury or death due to stair falls. 59 FR 39306.
    The Commission now has information that demonstrates that currently 
available baby walkers do not present ``an unreasonable risk of 
personal injury'' due to stair falls. A finding of unreasonable risk of 
personal injury is a necessary prerequisite under the FHSA for the 
Commission to declare an article intended for use by children to be a 
hazardous substance due to a mechanical hazard.
    The FHSA also prohibits the Commission from declaring that an 
article intended for use by children presents a mechanical hazard if 
there is an adopted and implemented voluntary standard that addresses 
the risk unless it can make, inter alia, one or more of the following 
findings. One is that compliance with the standard will not adequately 
reduce or eliminate the risk. Another is that it is unlikely that there 
will be substantial compliance with the standard.
    The Commission finds that currently available information 
demonstrates that the existing voluntary standard adequately reduces 
the risk of injury associated with the use of baby walkers. Testing has 
demonstrated that walkers complying with the voluntary standard are 
unlikely to fall down stairs. Baby walker-related stair fall injuries 
have declined substantially as walkers that comply with the voluntary 
standard have become more widespread in the marketplace. The Commission 
finds further that there is presently substantial compliance with the 
voluntary standard (99% according to surveys). The Commission finds 
further that, because the industry is dominated by five large 
manufacturers, all of which are presently producing walkers that comply 
with the voluntary standard, there likely will be substantial 
compliance with the voluntary standard in the future.
    Accordingly, the Commission has terminated the baby walker 
regulatory proceeding.
    Termination of the baby walker stair fall proceeding has no effect 
on the FHSA baby walker mechanical injury prevention and labeling 
requirements at 16 CFR 1500.18(a)(6) and 1500.86(a)(4). These 
requirements remain in full force and effect.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barbara J. Jacobson, Directorate for 
Health Sciences, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 
20207; telephone (301) 504-0477, ext. 1206; e-mail: [email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. The Product

    A baby walker is a device that supports a child so that the child 
can use its feet to move around before, or while, learning to walk. A 
baby walker generally consists of a fabric seat with leg openings 
mounted to a rigid plastic deck. The deck is attached to a base that 
usually has wheels to make it mobile. A walker generally can be folded 
for storage, and may have a feeding tray, adjustable seat height and a 
bouncing mechanism. Activity toys may be attached to the tray, and some 
walkers have wheel lock mechanisms.

B. Background of the Rulemaking

    The Commission initiated the proceeding to address baby walker 
stair falls with an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in 
August 1994. 59 FR 39306. This proceeding had no effect on the existing 
baby walker mechanical injury prevention and labeling requirements at 
16 CFR 1500.18(a)(6) and 1500.86(a)(4) previously promulgated under 
authority of the FHSA. These requirements remain in full force and 
effect.
    At the time the ANPR was issued, baby walkers were associated with 
a higher number of injuries than any other type of nursery product. The 
majority of the injuries occurred as a result of children falling down 
stairs while in baby walkers.
    Thirteen comments were received in response to the ANPR. Seven 
commenters supported a mandatory rulemaking. Six commenters were 
opposed to a mandatory rulemaking. Five of the commenters who opposed 
the mandatory rulemaking requested that any new baby walker 
requirements be developed through the ASTM voluntary standards setting 
process.
    After publication of the ANPR, Commission staff worked with the 
ASTM Walker Subcommittee to add new performance requirements to the 
voluntary walker standard to address the stair fall hazard. A revised 
ASTM F977 standard incorporating these improvements received final ASTM 
approval on October 10, 1996 and was published in early 1997.\1\
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    \1\ Copies of ASTM F977-00 Standard Consumer Safety 
Specification for Infant Walkers are available from ASTM. The URL 
for the ASTM world wide web site is: www.astm.org
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C. Relevant Statutory Provisions

    The CPSC baby walker proceeding was conducted pursuant to the FHSA. 
15 U.S.C. 1261 et seq. Section 2(f)(1)(D) of the FHSA defines 
``hazardous substance'' to include any toy or other article intended 
for use by children that the Commission determines, by regulation, 
presents an electrical, mechanical, or thermal hazard. 15 U.S.C. 
1261(f)(1)(D). An article may present a mechanical hazard if its design 
or manufacture presents an unreasonable risk of personal injury or 
illness during normal use or when subjected to reasonably foreseeable 
damage or abuse. Among other things, a mechanical hazard could include 
a risk of injury ``(5) from lack or insufficiency of controls to reduce 
or stop motion, * * * or (9) because of any other aspect of the 
article's design or manufacture.'' 15 U.S.C. 1261(s). Thus, in this 
proceeding, for the Commission to declare baby walkers to be hazardous 
substances due to a mechanical hazard, it would find that currently 
available baby walkers pose an unreasonable risk of personal injury as 
a result of ``lack or insufficiency of controls to reduce or stop 
motion.'' \2\
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    \2\ Under section 2(q)(1)(A) of the FHSA, a toy, or other 
article intended for use by children which is a hazardous substance 
is also a ``banned hazardous substance.'' 15 U.S.C. 1261(q)(1)(A).
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    Section 3(i)(2) of the FHSA prohibits the Commission from making a 
determination that an article intended for use by children presents a 
mechanical hazard, and therefore is a banned hazardous substance by 
operation of law, if there is an adopted and implemented voluntary 
standard that addresses the risk in question unless it can make, inter 
alia, one or more of the following findings.\3\ 15

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U.S.C. 1262(i)(2). One is that compliance with the standard is not 
likely to eliminate or adequately reduce the risk. 15 U.S.C. 
1262(i)(2)(A)(i). Another is that it is unlikely that there will be 
substantial compliance with the voluntary standard. 15 U.S.C. 
1262(i)(2)(A)(ii).
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    \3\ The FHSA contains two other pertinent constraints on 
Commission action in the face of voluntary standards activities, 
neither of which is apropos here. The first directs the Commission 
to consider publishing as a proposed CPSC regulation an adequate 
existing standard submitted to it during the period specified in an 
advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR). 15 U.S.C. 1262(g)(1). 
No such standard was submitted in response to the August 1994 ANPR. 
The second requires the Commission to terminate the rulemaking 
proceeding and rely on an adequate existing voluntary standard 
developed in response to a commitment and schedule for development 
thereof submitted to it during the period specified in an ANPR. 15 
U.S.C. 1262(g)(2). No such commitment and schedule were received in 
response to the 1994 ANPR.
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D. There Has Been a Significant Reduction in the Risk of Injury 
From Baby Walkers Since 1995

    Based on data from the Commission's National Electronic Injury 
Surveillance System (NEISS), baby walker-related injuries have dropped 
63 percent since 1995, from 20,100 emergency room treated injuries to 
7,400.\4\ The number of U.S. live births has increased slightly, 
approximately 4%, since 1995. Comparing the estimated number of 
injuries over the same time period, the rate of injury per 1,000 live 
births has dropped 65% from 1995 to 2000.
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    \4\ Memorandum from Debra Sweet, Division of Hazard Analysis, 
Directorate for Epidemiology, to Barbara Jacobson, Project Manager 
for Baby Walkers, Directorate for Health Sciences, Baby Walker-
Related Deaths and Injuries, March 13, 2002. This and other 
materials relevant to this proceeding are available on the CPSC 
website at www.cpsc.gov
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    CPSC received two reports of baby walker-related deaths in 2001, 
the first reports of baby walker deaths since 1997. The deaths were 
from head injuries incurred from falls down stairs. Investigations 
showed that both walkers were older-style walkers manufactured before 
the stair-fall improvements were incorporated into ASTM voluntary 
standard F977, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Infant 
Walkers.
    The Commission concludes that the consistent decrease in injuries 
would preclude a finding that currently available walkers present ``an 
unreasonable risk of personal injury.'' 15 U.S.C. 1261(s).

E. ASTM Voluntary Standard F977-00

    Beginning in 1994, after publication of the ANPR, CPSC staff worked 
with the ASTM Walker Subcommittee to add new performance requirements 
to the voluntary walker standard to address the stair fall hazard. The 
new performance requirements passed final ASTM balloting in August 
1996, received final approval on October 10, 1996, and the revised F977 
standard was published by ASTM in early 1997.
    The revised standard incorporates a performance test methodology 
that simulates a child in a walker moving across the floor, through a 
doorway, and to a stairway. A dummy represents a child in the walker. 
The walker is tested facing forward, backward, and sideways. If the 
walker passes through the 36-inch wide opening at the end of a test 
table and falls off the table, the walker fails to meet the performance 
requirements. If the walker stops at the edge of the test table and any 
part of the walker extends over the edge of the table, a tip-over test 
is performed. The walker fails to meet the requirements of the ASTM 
standard if it then falls off the table during the tip-over test.
    The performance test parameters were selected to be representative 
of stringent conditions, including use of test dummy weights that 
reflect both ends of the weight range of children 6-15 months old 
expected to use walkers and maximum expected walker speeds, child 
strength capabilities, and tip-over conditions.
    The CPSC staff conducted two 6-month special studies of walker-
related incidents from November 1, 1999 through April 30, 2000 and 
November 1, 2000 through April 30, 2001 to identify the types of 
walkers involved in recent stair fall incidents. The results of those 
studies indicate that most of the recent stair fall incidents involve 
older walkers not meeting the revised F977 standard. In light of the 
results of this study, a Commission finding that compliance with ASTM 
standard F977 is not likely to eliminate or adequately reduce the risk 
could not be justified. 15 U.S.C. 1262(i)(2)(A)(i).

F. Compliance With ASTM Standard F977

    According to information provided to CPSC staff by the Juvenile 
Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), all five domestic walker 
manufacturers comply with the revised ASTM standard. CPSC staff 
estimates that more than 99 percent of all baby walkers sold in the 
U.S. between 1997 and 2001 were in compliance with the revised ASTM 
standard. The JPMA also indicates that 98 percent of the baby walkers 
currently available for sale in the U.S. comply with revised ASTM 
standard F977. Apparently, the remaining small percentage of non-
complying walkers is imported by small firms. Thus the Commission could 
not at this time support a finding that it is unlikely that there will 
be substantial compliance with ASTM F977.

G. Conclusion

    As a result of the foregoing analysis, the Commission has made a 
decision to terminate the baby walker stair fall rulemaking.
    To avoid any potential misunderstanding, it is again reiterated 
that the Commission decision to terminate the baby walker stair fall 
proceeding has no effect on the FHSA baby walker mechanical injury 
prevention and labeling requirements at 16 CFR 1500.18(a)(6) and 
1500.86(a)(4). These requirements remain in full force and effect.

    Dated: May 2, 2002.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 02-11327 Filed 5-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-P