With the number of kids injured by shopping carts every year, the importance of shopping cart safety can not be under stated.
GREENSBORO, N.C. A trip to the grocery store isn’t something most parents worry about. But every year, an average of 21,500 children are injured in the U.S. because of falls from shopping carts, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. See the entire report here.
Paul Giampavolo, president of Safe-Strap Company, contributed to an article by Grocery Headquarters that demonstrates how important first impressions are to shoppers.
NBC KGW-TV Warns about Shopping Cart Safety. Paul Giampavolo, chairman of ASTM International Committee F15 on Consumer Products, talks about keeping kids safe when in the store.
A safer alternative for consumers who shop with infants is to use the Safe-Dock Personal Infant Carrier Docking Stations that are specifically designed to be permanently mounted and used on shopping carts. Safe-Docks are usually made available on several carts within the store. It is important to make sure that shopping carts and seat belts are always kept in good working order; and Safe-Docks are readily available and kept clean. These practices are not only excellent safety and liability measures; but are essential from a customer service and convenience standpoint. The blogs are fervent with moms talking about shopping cart safety and applauding stores that provide the safety equipment that help them care for their children while shopping. The simple practice of providing Safe-Docks and working seat belts in shopping carts is an opportunity for the retailer to make the shopping experience a bit better for parents.
Paul Giampavolo is the leading expert on shopping cart safety. Paul is Chairman of ASTM’s Consumer Products Executive Subcommittee which oversees all Consumer Product standard activities, Subcommittee Chairman of ASTM’s Shopping Cart Subcommittee, recipient of a Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman’s Commendation in 1996 for Significant Contributions to Product Safety, and President and CEO of Safe-Strap Company. Paul has worked in the retail industry for over 30 years and dedicated his career to child safety.
Article from Parents for Safer Shopping Carts
Instances of infant carrier-related injuries have increased in recent years. There are about 1,000 injuries annually now, and last year, a child was killed in a Georgia supermarket, which propelled more attention around the issue. Infant carrier materials warn against using the carriers on elevated surfaces, but not all of the materials address shopping carts; even when there are warnings, consumers don’t always read them or mistakenly believe that that practice of putting a car seat on a shopping cart is safe.
What can be done to keep baby safe and be able to shop for all that you need?
Some say use a sling carrier. This keeps baby close and snug.
Another option is the Safe-Dock, a docking station offered by many stores. This docking stations is permanently attached to the shopping cart, has been tested on all major models of shopping carts in use by the largest retailers, and let’s your little one go from car to cart without waking up.
Either way you shop, always stay with your baby.
Article from Parents for Safer Shopping Carts
Beginning in January 2012 shopping carts began displaying a new warning label alerting consumers not to use their own personal infant carriers or car seats on shopping carts. This new warning is in direct response to the hundreds of infants who were seriously injured in stores when their carriers fell from shopping carts. In November of 2011 an infant tragically died when his infant carrier fell from the cart in a supermarket parking lot. Personal infant carriers are not designed for use with shopping carts and most manufacturers of the personal carriers have been warning consumers against using their products in conjunction with shopping carts for years. Now the shopping cart industry is communicating this message by placing the warning directly on the shopping cart itself.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission some 20,000 children are injured in shopping carts each year. 82% of these injuries are falls, making shopping cart falls the nation’s top injury to children under the age of 5. While the majority of these injuries involve small children, mostly in the one to two year old range who fall from the seat or basket portion of the cart, 5% of these injuries involve infants whose carrier falls from the shopping cart.
The new warning was developed by the ASTM Shopping Cart Subcommittee and is part of the newly revised shopping cart standard. ASTM International (American Society for Testing & Materials) formed a technical subcommittee with active participation from the Consumer Product Safety Commission to analyze the causes of why children fall out of shopping carts and what can be done to prevent injuries. Developing ASTM safety standards is the process by which children’s injuries involving consumer products are addressed and remedied in the United States. This subcommittee reviewed injury data provided by the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), Injury or Potential Injury Incident Database (IIPI), and special studies done by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The ASTM standard calls for safety restraints on all shopping carts, keeping carts and restraints in good working order and providing warnings to the consumer.
Paul Giampavolo is the leading expert on shopping cart safety. Paul is Chairman of ASTM’s Consumer Products Executive Subcommittee which oversees all Consumer Product standard activities, Subcommittee Chairman of ASTM’s Shopping Cart Subcommittee, recipient of a Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairman’s Commendation in 1996 for Significant Contributions to Product Safety, and President and CEO of Safe-Strap Company. Paul has worked in the retail industry for over 30 years and dedicated his career to child safety.
