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Simplicity, Pa: US Designs, "not" Chinese factories, to blame for 2 infant deaths
posted Saturday, 22 September 2007
Following on from Mattel's recent admission that poor quality US designs - rather than flaws introduced by Chinese manufacturers - were the primarily reason for the recall of over 18 million children's toys in August of this year, US nursery furniture producer Simplicity has come forward with a similar admission
In an announcement made this Friday, representatives from both Simplicity and the Consumer Product Safety Commission; America's de facto consumer watchdog, have come announced that the recent recall of 1 million Simplicity brand infant beds was due to a design flaw in the original product, and that it is completely unrelated to the fact that the infant beds were manufacturer in China.
The infant beds have been linked to 2 child deaths and 7 incidents in which children have become trapped by the bed's adjustable side panels and 55 other incidents of unspecified natures. A third death is being investigated. It is believed that poor design and instructions lead to movable parts, assembled in the US, being installed upside or otherwise failing due to design issues.
Affected Products?
According to the CPSC, the products which are affected by the Simplicity recall are
Multiple Issues?
This recent recall is not the first involving Simplicity's infant beds. In June 2007, Simplicity was forced to recall 40,000 self assembly "Nursery-in-a-Box" infant beds because of poor quality design and errors in their assembly instructions. Upon inspection, it was discovered that metal locking pins could become detached; presenting a chocking hazard, and that errors in assembly instructions could lead to consumers installing the adjustable side pieces upside down; leading to constriction and suffocation hazards if they failed during use.
Additionally, in December 2005 Simplicity recalled 104,000 Aspen "3 in 1" infant beds due to a design flaw that allowed support slats to fail. In this instance a 1 1/2 year old infant suffocated to death after becoming trapped between the infant bed's mattress and its floor pan after the supports came free of their mountings.
Though both recalls involved products were manufactured in China, this was not a factor in the recall; which would have occurred regardless of where the infant beds were manufactured.
Wider Reactions?
Simplicity's announcement comes not only at a time of growing public distrust of Chinese made products, but also a time of growing American realization of exactly how dependent the US is on Chinese manufactured consumer products, clothing and foodstuffs.
While some bodies and lobby groups have sought to play up this distrust in order to promote the production and purchase of American goods, in order to reduce America's dependence on imported goods, other less reputable groups have used it as an opportunity to sow anti-Chinese sentiment amongst consumers or as a chance to propose politically motivated legislation designed to reduce China's competitiveness in American markets. Conversely, other groups have gone to lengths to distance product fault from Chinese manufacturers, with fears that a poor consumer image of Chinese goods could lead to reduced sales, reduced profit margins and increased prices in stores.
Word Association?
While the Western media has reported that the safety concerns with Simplicity's infant beds are due to a design issue, and that they are not resultant of sharp practices or poor manufacturing in China, China watchers have expressed concern that those recall notices, and the news stories coving them, are specifically highlighting the fact the flawed infant beds were made in China at a time when there is increasing public concern over Chinese made products, even though the fact that the infant beds were made in China is not a factor in the recall.
As such, China watchers have voiced that even though the Western Media is covering the fact that China is blameless in this instance it is still creating/feeding the perception that Chinese products are inherently dangerous through word association. For example, the Google associated AFP news feed begins an article that states that China was not to blame with the headline "Baby deaths spark US recall of million Chinese-made cribs", while Market Watch covered the same story under the headline "Recall set for 1 million cribs: Suffocation hazard cited on Chinese-made apparatus"
China watchers assert that such word associations are counterproductive and are damaging to China's reputation as a manufacturer because they form a subconscious link between dangerous products and Chinese manufacturers even though there is no fault involved in this case, and have compared it to the news-media publishing a story about a drunken driver who ran another car off of the road; killing its occupants, under the headline "Black man slays family of five" even though the race of the driver is irrelevant to the incident.
In an announcement made this Friday, representatives from both Simplicity and the Consumer Product Safety Commission; America's de facto consumer watchdog, have come announced that the recent recall of 1 million Simplicity brand infant beds was due to a design flaw in the original product, and that it is completely unrelated to the fact that the infant beds were manufacturer in China.
The infant beds have been linked to 2 child deaths and 7 incidents in which children have become trapped by the bed's adjustable side panels and 55 other incidents of unspecified natures. A third death is being investigated. It is believed that poor design and instructions lead to movable parts, assembled in the US, being installed upside or otherwise failing due to design issues.
Affected Products?
According to the CPSC, the products which are affected by the Simplicity recall are
Simplicity crib models include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves the following Simplicity cribs that used the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio.
The recalled cribs have one of the following model numbers, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760, and 8996.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07307.html
The recalled cribs have one of the following model numbers, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760, and 8996.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07307.html
Multiple Issues?
This recent recall is not the first involving Simplicity's infant beds. In June 2007, Simplicity was forced to recall 40,000 self assembly "Nursery-in-a-Box" infant beds because of poor quality design and errors in their assembly instructions. Upon inspection, it was discovered that metal locking pins could become detached; presenting a chocking hazard, and that errors in assembly instructions could lead to consumers installing the adjustable side pieces upside down; leading to constriction and suffocation hazards if they failed during use.
Additionally, in December 2005 Simplicity recalled 104,000 Aspen "3 in 1" infant beds due to a design flaw that allowed support slats to fail. In this instance a 1 1/2 year old infant suffocated to death after becoming trapped between the infant bed's mattress and its floor pan after the supports came free of their mountings.
Though both recalls involved products were manufactured in China, this was not a factor in the recall; which would have occurred regardless of where the infant beds were manufactured.
Wider Reactions?
Simplicity's announcement comes not only at a time of growing public distrust of Chinese made products, but also a time of growing American realization of exactly how dependent the US is on Chinese manufactured consumer products, clothing and foodstuffs.
While some bodies and lobby groups have sought to play up this distrust in order to promote the production and purchase of American goods, in order to reduce America's dependence on imported goods, other less reputable groups have used it as an opportunity to sow anti-Chinese sentiment amongst consumers or as a chance to propose politically motivated legislation designed to reduce China's competitiveness in American markets. Conversely, other groups have gone to lengths to distance product fault from Chinese manufacturers, with fears that a poor consumer image of Chinese goods could lead to reduced sales, reduced profit margins and increased prices in stores.
Word Association?
While the Western media has reported that the safety concerns with Simplicity's infant beds are due to a design issue, and that they are not resultant of sharp practices or poor manufacturing in China, China watchers have expressed concern that those recall notices, and the news stories coving them, are specifically highlighting the fact the flawed infant beds were made in China at a time when there is increasing public concern over Chinese made products, even though the fact that the infant beds were made in China is not a factor in the recall.
As such, China watchers have voiced that even though the Western Media is covering the fact that China is blameless in this instance it is still creating/feeding the perception that Chinese products are inherently dangerous through word association. For example, the Google associated AFP news feed begins an article that states that China was not to blame with the headline "Baby deaths spark US recall of million Chinese-made cribs", while Market Watch covered the same story under the headline "Recall set for 1 million cribs: Suffocation hazard cited on Chinese-made apparatus"
China watchers assert that such word associations are counterproductive and are damaging to China's reputation as a manufacturer because they form a subconscious link between dangerous products and Chinese manufacturers even though there is no fault involved in this case, and have compared it to the news-media publishing a story about a drunken driver who ran another car off of the road; killing its occupants, under the headline "Black man slays family of five" even though the race of the driver is irrelevant to the incident.
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