CPSC Prevents Deaths and Injuries With Swift and Effective Cooperation with Industry: Drawstrings on Children's Clothing

The CPSC serves consumers by preventing deaths and injuries through swift and effective voluntary coordination with children's clothing manufacturers and retailers.

CPSC worked with Thelma Sibley of Milan, Michigan, who suffered the worst nightmare of any parent -- the death of her child. Five-year-old Nancy Sibley was strangled by a hidden hazard when the drawstring of her winter coat was caught on a playground slide. Nancy's death was not the only incident. Since 1985, there were 17 deaths and 42 nonfatal incidents caused by drawstring entanglement. Playground slides were involved in over one-half of the incidents. Also implicated were school buses, cribs, and other products such as an escalator, a fence, farm grinder, turn signal lever, ski chair lift and tricycle.

Because of the number of drawstring-related incidents, the CPSC first worked with manufacturers to remove catchpoints on playground slides and other products. Upon further analysis, CPSC decided that removing strings from the garments was the best approach.

CPSC Chairman Ann Brown and Thelma Sibley forged a partnership, combining their fiery determination and creativity to solve the problem by bringing together representatives from leading manufacturers of children's clothing. In April 1994, CPSC presented the industry with the evidence that drawstrings on jackets, coats and sweatshirts (mostly located in the hoods of these garments) could kill children. In just 4 months, the manufacturers voluntarily agreed to remove neck and hood drawstrings from most of the 20 million children's garments manufactured annually in this country, and promised that garments without these drawstrings would be available to consumers beginning with the Spring or Fall 1995 clothing lines. No regulation was required.

CPSC took the additional step of issuing voluntary guidelines that: (1) advise manufacturers to eliminate drawstrings and to replace them with safer alternatives, such as snaps and velcro, and (2) advise parents to remove drawstrings from the hoods and necks of jackets and sweatshirts and to shorten drawstrings around the bottom of the garments. CPSC is distributing these guidelines widely to manufacturers and consumers. By putting a human face on government, CPSC achieved a common sense solution within only a few months. CPSC worked with companies to make their redesigned product safer and took decisive action to protect our children from future drawstring deaths.

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