A 19-month-old Canterbury boy died in May 2021 after becoming strangled by loose fabric strapping hanging from the slats of a Living & Co bed sold by The Warehouse.
Coroner Ruth Thomas ruled the accident was preventable and the product not inherently safe.
The child was found unresponsive under his bed when a strap wrapped tightly around his neck, and police later determined the packaging and instructions included no warnings about the hazard.
Although The Warehouse temporarily withdrew the bed from sale and updated the manual, added warning labels, and reinforced the straps, the coroner said these changes were insufficient and urged a full redesign to eliminate fabric strapping entirely, along with broader public safety messaging.
The company said it would work with its supplier to remove the strap from future designs.
Grade B & C products sold in NZ at Grade A pricing.
Think beyond…use the imagination of how something can and does go wrong.
Use nothing strappy or with thick fibre- filling due to suffocation hazards.
This is why the U.S. uses Underwriter Labs (UL) to rate the safety and practicality of products.
Condolences to the family who didn’t see this coming..! This is why I do not like the silly season as the ‘time of joy’ is always replaced with a ‘time of sorrow’.