An unusually high number of products posing choking and strangulation risks are set forth in the August 2009 Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC’s) recall list. Other noted items can cause fires, falls and lacerations.

These monthly government lists help protect the public by urging consumers to avoid using or purchasing various dangerous products. Our law firm recommends that you regularly review these lists before ever making a major purchase or buying anything for a child.

Part One of our review of the August 2009 recall list focusing mainly on products posing choking and strangulation hazards. It also describes a dangerous infant bed.

Part Two of our August 2009 review looks at many other items, including those posing laceration and fire risks. This second half of our review also notes several companies that must pay civil penalties regarding their products and other general CPSC news.

(Readers interested in reviewing the complete August 2009 CPSC list can visit the following link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerelaug09.html )

Products Posing Strangulation and Choking Hazards

• Graco Children’s Products Inc., of Atlanta, Georgia, has agreed to recall close to 2,400 Jump ‘n Jive™ Doorway Jumpers. Choking hazards can arise when the toys attached to the jumper straps become detached.
• Little Tikes of Hudson, Ohio, is voluntarily recalling about 1.6 million Little Tikes™ Workshops Sets and Trucks. The large, plastic toy nails included in these sets can pose a choking hazard to young children.
• About 200 La Siesta Yayita Baby Hammocks are being recalled by Kaplan Early Learning Company of Lewisville, North Carolina. Babies can fall or be strangled if these hammocks flip over while the infants are caught in the seat’s restraint straps, hanging upside down.
• Lewis Hyman Inc., of Carson, California, is voluntarily recalling close to 4.2 million Oval Roll-up Blinds and 600,000 Woolrich Roman Shades. Children can get their necks entangled in the loops and cords of these blinds and shades and strangle to death. A number of deaths have already been reported.
• Several other companies selling shades and blinds that can choke or strangle children are also named in this August list, including:

1. Lutron Electronics of Pennsylvania (Product: Roller Shades)
2. Pottery Barn Kids/Williams-Sonoma, Inc. of California. (Product: Roman Shades).
3. IKEA Home Furnishings of Pennsylvania (Product: Melina Roman Blinds)
4. Vertical Land Inc., of Florida (Products: Horizontal and Vertical Blinds, as well as their Cellular Shades).
5. Target Stores. (Products: Victoria Classics Roman Shades are being recalled for repair. These items are perhaps better known as Thermal Sailcloth and Matchstick Bamboo Roman Shades.) (Readers can review all of these warnings about blinds and shades in greater detail by visiting: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerelaug09.html )

Re-announcement of Infant Bassinet Product That Has Caused Multiple Deaths

Everyone taking care of small children must make sure that they are not using Simplicity Inc., of Reading, Pennsylvania’s convertible “close-sleeper/bedside sleeper” bassinets. These dangerous products have been tied to the deaths of at least four infants since they were first placed on the August 2008 CPSC recall list.

Other potentially hazardous products that can cause falls, fires, burns, lacerations and fall/impact injuries are covered in Part Two of our review of the August 2009 Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recall list. Part Two of this article also briefly notes the imposition of civil penalties against several specific companies and other general CPSC news. (Link to Part Two here: http://www.injury-prevention-blog.com/2009/12/august-2009-product-recalls-and-related-news-part-two/ )