A Standards Australia Committee in charge of making sure children’s furniture is safe as possible has received and award for its efforts – but the work never stops.

The Standards Australia Committee; CS-003 Safety Requirements for Children's Furniture, has received the prestigious Chairman's Commendation Award from the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Worthy recipients are picked for their significant, lifesaving contributions to consumer product safety. In the case of the Standard Australian Committee, that work has been in standardising and regulating everything from bassinettes to bunk beds and high chairs to hot water bottles.

Chief of Standards Australia, Colin Blair, congratulated the kids’ furniture committee members and chairperson, Mr Dave Strachan from the Queensland Office of Fair Trading.

“The award is a testament to the brilliant work CS-003 Safety Requirements for Children's Furniture has been quietly undertaking for many years. The award follows Committee CS-003’s recent Outstanding Committee Award issued at Standards Australia’s Mid-Year Council meeting in Canberra,” Mr Blair said.

It’s been a big year for the members of CS-003 – they have revised the mandated standard for household cots, and also launched a new Test Method Standard for Infant Sleeping Surfaces titled AS 8811.1

“This was an important revision for child safety, as the introduction of a new test method for infant sleeping surfaces - which is a world first - and should go some way to resolving one of the primary contributing factors to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” Mr Blair added.

The new test method is set to be showcased at the upcoming ICPHSO international product safety conference, co-hosted on the Gold Coast by the ACCC.

The work keeps rolling in for CS-003 though, this week the committee has also launched its process to amend the mandatory standards for bean bag covers and packages containing bean bag filling.

The Committee is considering ways to improve the safety and labelling system of bean bags, novelty cushions, therapeutic pillows and similar devices. Feedback and submissions are sought from members of related industries.

The consultation paper for the review of the mandatory standard for bean bags is available here.