In June 2018, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved a new federal standard ASTM F404-18 intended to improve the safety of all high chairs, including those intended for both home and restaurant use.

The new federal safety standard incorporates the most recent voluntary standard (ASTM F404-18, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for High Chairs) developed by ASTM International with no modifications. The standard defines a high chair as, a free standing chair for a child up to 3 years of age which has a seating surface more than 15 inch above the floor and elevates the child normally for the purposes of feeding or eating. The standard contains requirements concerning:

• Threaded fasteners;

• sharp edges and points;

• small parts;

• wood parts;

• latching or locking mechanisms;

• permanency of labels;

• openings;

• lead in paint;

• forward, sideways, and rearward stability;

• exposed coil springs;

• scissoring, shearing, and pinching;

• restraint systems;

• structural integrity;

• tray latch release mechanisms;

• side containment;

• protrusions;

• protective components;

• tray or front torso support;

• static loads on the seat, step, footrest, and tray;

• bounded openings;

• warnings and labels and instructional literature.

The standard also includes test methods to assess conformance with these requirements.

Effective date: 12 months after the final rule is published in the Federal Register and applies to products manufactured or imported on or after that date.

Between January 2011 and September 2017, CPSC received a total of 1,842 incident reports related to high chairs, including 271 injuries. From 2015 through 2016, there were an estimated 18,500 high chair-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments, according to CPSC’s National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS).Most of the incidents were due to falls when a child attempted to climb into or out of the high chair; when the chair tipped over as a child pushed back or rocked back and forth while seated in the high chair; or when a component (such as the restraint, tray, or lock) of the high chair failed.

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