The U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a voluntary recall of wood twin bunk beds and loft bunk beds made by American Woodcrafters of High Point, North Carolina. These beds have the American Woodcrafters logo attached to the headboard or footboard and the SKU numbers, 1800-977 or 1800-969. The guard rails on the upper bunk have a tendency to crack, causing the mattress and its support rails to collapse, posing a danger to uses on both the top and bottom bunks. There have been several reports of cracked guard rails causing the mattress and upper rails to collapse, but luckily no one has been seriously injured.
This recall comes after Big Lots recalled of over 30,000 metal futon bunk beds after the death of a three-year old boy. The child died of compression asphyxiation after his head and neck were trapped under the weight of the futon’s metal frame. These bunk beds have an additional hazard. The space between the last rung on the bunk bed’s ladder and the futon mattress is too small. This allows a child’s body to pass through but not the head, posing an additional strangulation hazard. The recalled bunk beds with model number BFB1008GE were sold exclusively through Big Lots nationwide from January 2009 through April 2010. Consumers of either of these two types of bunk beds should immediately stop using them and call either American Woodcrafters or Big Lots for more information.