ASTM Reviews Bunk Bed Standards

ASTM’s F15.30 subcommittee April 17 discussed comments and concerns about current bunk bed specifications. The panel identified several editorial revisions to the F1427 Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Bunk Beds, as well as two areas of concern in section 4.4, which specifies mattress size and fit for lower bunks in order to prevent entrapment.

One of the areas of concern was the specific inclusion of corner posts into the spacing requirements for mattresses. Under the current standard, mattresses would be required to fit snugly against the corner posts. However because most mattresses have rounded corners, the subcommittee noted that the majority of bunk beds currently on the market would have difficulty meeting that spacing requirement. The subcommittee was unaware of any incidents of entrapment occurring at the corner posts, and agreed on the need to add the phrase, “excluding corner posts”.

The other area of concern was the spacing requirement between a mattress and an “attached component.” The subcommittee found that this phrasing was ambiguous and might also include a component attached to the top bunk, such as a ladder, which the subcommittee did not intend. The panel voted for revising the standard to specify that the section 4.4 mattress spacing requirements apply only to components attached to the bottom bunk.

CPSC staff asked panel chair Bill Purdue of the American Home Furnishings Alliance for a timeframe on the re-balloting of the proposed changes, but Purdue could not provide an initial estimate.