PARENTS AND guardians have been urged to exercise caution when dressing children after an EU survey found that more than one in 10 garments breached European safety standards.
Citing research that points to risk of death or serious injury from cords and drawstrings in clothes, EU health and consumer policy commissioner John Dalli said parents should “be aware” of the dangers from unsafe clothing.
“It is for each parent or carer to judge how best to manage the safety of their children. Our concern is that parents can choose garments for their children without having to worry about safety,” he said.
European consumers spend several billion euro every year on children’s clothes, products that originate “almost equally” from within and outside the EU.
Mr Dalli’s warning followed the publication of research showing more than 10 per cent of garments inspected in 11 member states, Ireland among them, did not comply with European safety rules.
A total of 16,300 garments were examined in the survey of retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and importers and 2,188 of the items assessed did not comply with one or more safety rules. National authorities took “corrective action” in each case.
In Ireland, inspectors examined 640 garments at 21 unnamed retailers and found that 18 of the garments breached the rules.
The commission’s consumer division said clothes with cords or drawstrings in the hood and the neck area carry risk of strangulation where the cord or drawstring can become caught in playground equipment or furniture.
The EU executive also said clothes with cords or drawstrings which are too long at the back, the waist, on the sleeve or lower hems carry the risk of getting caught in the doors of moving vehicles.
Clothes with elastic cords with embellishments such as toggles carry the risk of eye injury.
Although the commission does not gather hard data systematically, it said accidents involving cords and drawstrings occurred “regularly”, sometimes with fatal results.
The commission said clothes for children up to seven years should not have cords or drawstrings in the hood and neck area.
Children aged between seven and 14 should not have cords longer than 75mm.
In addition, cords in the hood and neck area should not be elastic except for shoulder straps and halter-necks.
“Clothes for children should not have cords or drawstrings with free ends longer than 140mm in the chest and waist area,” the commission said.
“Halter-neck-style children’s clothes should not have loose ends in the hood and neck area. Children’s clothes intended to be tied at the front should not have tied belts or sashes longer than 360mm when measured untied from the point where they are to be tied.”
UNSAFE CLOTHING SERIOUS INCIDENTS INVOLVING CHILDREN
The commission said each of the following incidents occurred in “at least one” member state:
A child descends a slide, the toggle or knot at the end of a hood drawstring is caught in a small space or gap at the top of a slide. As the child descends, the cord pulls taut, strangling the child.
A child alights from a bus, the waist drawstring toggle is caught in the doors unobserved by the driver. The bus pulls off and the child is dragged along and under the wheels.
A child is riding a bike, a drawstring on a trouser leg becomes entangled in the spokes of the bicycle wheel. The child is pulled to the ground, sustaining head injuries.