What is the ASTM Standard for Bed Rails?

The importance of regulating bed rails to keep you and your family safe

Portable bed rail
New adult portable bed rails standard addresses issues relating to openings and attachments to beds in hopes of reducing the chances of entrapment, injury, strangulation, and death.

As a new parent, have you ever wondered if your young child is safe on their new twin bed? As a result of this, many parents purchase a new bed rail in hopes that it will keep their children safer. Hospitals and nursing homes have similar concerns about their patients on using bed rails on their beds. However, there have been multiple recalls on bed rail products. To address these concerns with failing bed rails, the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM International) released a new international standard with requirements for portable bed rails and accessories.

The standard (F3186) addresses issues relating to openings and attachments to beds in hopes of reducing the chances of entrapment, injury, strangulation, and death. The standard was created by the consumer products panel and is applicable to any manufacturer or person who buys bed rails as it outlines the safe design. A portable bed rail is one that can be attached or installed to prevent a person from falling out of bed.

Manufacturers and importers of portable bed rails must ensure their products are in compliance with this new standard, including labeling requirements, as well as additional requirements such as sharp edges, small parts, warning labels, etc., set forth by the Consumer Product Safety Commission by having their products tested by a third party laboratory.

Portable bed rail requirements specify that they must not create a gap between them and the mattress and that they cannot be assembled unsafely. Additionally, the rails are required to have warning labels and any component parts like anchors and straps must be securely attached to the bed rail.

Do you need a third party laboratory to test portable bed rails of other consumer products? Let us save you time and money searching for a laboratory! Submit a product test request on our website or by calling us at 1-855-377-6821 today!

To see how we have helped other companies and manufacturers of consumer products, here are a few of the test requests we have recently received and helped facilitate:

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