New Mattress Fire Standard Approved

(CBS/AP)  A higher government standard for mattress flammability that would give people more time to escape if their beds catch on fire was approved Thursday, but consumer groups complained language attached to the rule limits suits against manufacturers.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission's three-member board unanimously approved the new rule, which creates standards governing how quickly a fire from open flames such as candles and cigarette lighters would spread across mattresses. Until now, a standard on the books only regulated smoldering fires from cigarettes, CBS Radio News correspondent Barry Bagnato reports.

"It's going to save a lot of lives, prevent a lot of injuries from mattress fires and we're proud of that," CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton said after the vote. "We think that's what we're supposed to be doing."

The CPSC estimates the new standard to limit fire intensity and prevent or delay "flashover," when the mattress is engulfed in flames will increase escape time and could prevent up to 270 deaths and 1,330 injuries a year. "Typically, there is no surviving" once the mattress is engulfed, State Fire Marshals Association expert Robert Polk tells Bagnato.

The rule, which will go into effect in July 2007, limits the amount of heat that can be released in the first 30 minutes if a mattress catches fire.

The rule is the first ever "major regulation" to come out of the CPSC because it will cost mattress manufacturers at least $100 million per year to comply.

"The benefits are way higher than that because we always have a positive benefit-to-cost ratio," Stratton said.

Several consumer groups and at least one U.S. senator, though, object to language in the preamble of the new rule that will pre-empt existing state standards and requirements, including those created by courts. They say it will prevent people from seeking court compensation if hurt by a product meeting the CPSC standard, particularly in states where current flammability standards may be higher than the new national rule.

"To attempt to prevent consumer access to the court based on a minimum standard that's promulgated by the CPSC is unprecedented," said Janell Mayo Duncan, senior counsel for the Consumers Union. "What the government is attempting to do is make sure that suits can't go forward."

Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, sent Stratton a letter this week expressing concerns about the preamble, writing that it will remove the incentive for industries to integrate new safety technology into their products so long as they meet the federal standard.

"Safety standards are baseline starting points," wrote Inouye, co-chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. "They should not be ceilings."

Stratton noted that the preamble language is not part of the actual rule and it is not an unprecedented move.

"We believe that the state courts are pre-empted from making findings that would establish some other standard, whether it's higher or lower," Stratton said. "The groups are concerned that courts are not able to establish a higher standard, well, I'm concerned that maybe the courts could establish a lower standard."