Consumers, and in particular children, are at danger when their homes are furnished with unsafe bunk beds. Bunk bed suppliers should be warned that they are at risk if their products do not meet the design, construction, safety, performance and marking requirements specified in the mandatory standard, based on Australian/New Zealand Bunk Bed Standard AS/NZ 4220:1994. These requirements address critical safety issues and minimise serious injury to young children.
The ACCC has recently taken swift enforcement action for a serious breach of the bunk bed standard. In January 2005 the ACCC accepted court enforceable undertakings from a manufacturer and retailer of bunk beds, Floline International Pty Ltd, after the ACCC found its bunk beds did not comply with the mandatory standard. This was the first significant failure of the standard since its introduction in 2002. For more information see the ACCC news release: ACCC accepts Floline International product safety undertakings.
A Monash University Accident Research Centre report on bunk beds states that there are approximately 3850 injuries in Australia annually to children under fifteen, with almost half the cases occurring in the 5–9 year age group.
One of the major causes of injuries to young children is from playing on the bunks. The main cause of non-fatal injury is due to falls, with over half of these falls occurring in the under-five age group.
The ACCC supports the need for parents to check bunk beds for safety features and to supervise children. Safety features include bed ends and guard rails, eliminating gaps and protrusions in bed frames so children can’t get their heads trapped or snag clothing; and ladders should be stable.
