Amendments to Standard EN 14988 on Children`s High Chairs

Sept. 18, 2012 - PRLog -- The European national standard institutions operating under CEN/CENELEC have 6 months, until February 2013, to withdraw any national conflicting standards. The amendments to EN 14988 implicate the following new requirements that may have an impact to your products.

To improve the protective function of high chairs, additional restraint requirements have been developed as follows:

Active Restraint System
•   The active restraint system supplied with the high chair shall consist of an assembly of straps: crotch strap, waist strap and/or shoulder straps.
•   The minimum required width of the straps has been changed to 19 mm.
•   An active restraint system is required when the backrest can be reclined to less than 60° to the horizontal.
•   Strength test methods for straps have been clarified and a slippage test for straps and adjusters has been added.

Passive Restraint System
•   The passive restraint system consists of lateral protections, a crotch restraint and a horizontal element which create two openings for the child’s legs.
•   Dimensional requirements have been developed.

Lateral Protection
•   Requirements have been introduced for lateral protection, including minimum dimensions and limitation of openings.
•   Relevant test methods have been introduced in the part 2 of the standard.

Folding Products
The requirements on locking mechanisms now clearly cover the folding system only.

Test Methods
Some test methods and equipment have been modified and improved in the part 2 of the standard, to cover new requirements and give a better reproducibility of testing.

The EU standard for high chairs EN 14988 parts 1 and 2 can be used as a voluntary standard to show compliance to the General Product Safety Directive. Please note that for EU Member State countries where national legislation exists (as in the UK and France) the national legislation should be followed.

About SGS Solutions for Children’s Products
SGS has dedicated experts and services to assist manufacturers in the development of juvenile products and childcare articles (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Toys-and-Juve...). SGS offers physical/mechanical tests, chemical tests, packaging evaluation as well as inspections to ensure the compliance of products in target markets.

For further information about the standard EN 14988 and its amendments, please contact the SGS experts.

Contact details:

SGS Consumer Testing Services
Catherine Follin-Arbelet
Senior International Expert, Juvenile Products
215 Rue Paul Langevin
Pôle d'activité Aix les Milles
13856 Aix en Provence Cedex, France

t: +33 4 42 61 64 57
Email: cts.media@sgs.com  
Website: http://www.sgs.com/pages/consumer-testing/sgs-consumer-go...

ABOUT SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With 70,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,350 offices and laboratories around the world.