The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has asked ASTM, the product standards organization, to draw up performance provisions for home furniture with reclining mechanisms.

The request, submitted in an April 27 letter, follows reports of 13 of children who were either trapped between a leg rest and seat cushion or crushed by a foot support lift mechanism between 2011 and 2021, resulting in seven fatalities. The ASTM has not published a voluntary standard for home recliners, and the CPSC described the furniture industry’s current guidelines for the category, released in 1988 by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association (AFMA), as inadequate.

According to a report by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA), an industry advocacy group and successor to the AFMA, the ASTM’s Furniture Safety Subcommittee has agreed to develop the safety standard and will begin addressing the issue at a July 10 meeting.

In a statement, Bill Perdue, the AHFA’s regulatory affairs VP, said his organization had been unaware of any injuries or fatalities during the time period cited. However, he acknowledged five incidents involving children prior to 1985 that led to the AFMA guidelines, limiting the space between a recliner’s upholstered seat and leg rest to 5 inches or less. The AFMA, together with the CPSC, also issued a press release in 1985 alerting parents to “possible accidental death or injury to young children using or playing on recliner chairs.”

Perdue said his organization will participate in the ASTM’s standard development process, and is convening a new motion furniture task group to review the latest incidents and consider possible requirements for the standard.