Furnishing makers say STURDY tip-over bill will die unless changes are made
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The American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) has proposed changes to the proposed STURDY Act. STURDY (Stop Tip-Overs of Unstable Risky Dressers on Youth) was recently reintroduced in Congress.

STURDY passed unanimously in the House in 2017 before dying in the Senate in 2019. It was reintroduced by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) in February. The bill would force the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to adopt a stronger mandatory stability standard for clothing storage units within one year of enactment.

The AHFA believes the bill will stall out again unless changes are made. It says the way the bill is currently written would allow the CPSC to revise regulation at any time without industry input. This "fast-track rulemaking" must change, it said.

The Alliance also proposed changes, including incorporating a clear definition of a "children's product" and requiring the adoption of the current voluntary ASTM F-2057, but with additional requirements. Those include withstanding climbing from children when multiple doors are open.

Any updates to the ASTM standard should also automatically apply to STURDY within 180 days, says AHFA.

“AHFA’s proposed approach ensures a rigorous stability standard for all clothing storage furniture,” stated AHFA CEO Andy Counts. “It ensures all clothing storage units are engineered to remain stable under the weight of a curious toddler. It ensures all CSUs include a warning label alerting parents to potential tip-over hazards. And it ensures all CSUs arrive at the customer’s home with tested tip restraints and instructions for installing them.” All of these requirements are contained within the current ASTM standard.

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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].