Eight popular child stair gates have failed recent safety tests carried out by a consumer group, exposing a “serious risk” for the youngsters they are designed to protect.
Which? subjected 12 stair gates on sale in the UK to a series of tests to check they confirm to EU standards, two of which – the impact resistance and the fatigue test – aim to establish the risk of becoming dislodged.
One stair gate, Mothercare’s Wooden Wall Fix, failed both tests, sparking concern about how easily a child could put themselves in danger. It has since been withdrawn from sale.
The impact resistance test replicates the actions of a child pushing or kicking the gate, by hitting a 10kg weight against different points of the product. Any gate that moves more than 25mm from its starting point fails the test.
The Mothercare Wooden Wall Fix and the Cuggl Wooden Extending gate could both tolerate just one impact before they failed. The Cuggl Autoclose failed after only two impacts.
The Lindam Sure Shut Orto, the Dreambaby Chelsea and the Dreambaby Liberty, the BabyDan Perfect Close and the Mothercare Wooden Wall Fix all failed the fatigue test, designed to mimic the actions of a child shaking and rattling the gate over time. It involves a mechanical arm clamped on the gate and pulled back and forth 10,000 times. Similarly, a gate fails if it moves more than 25mm from the starting point.
However, the BabyDan Perfect Close and the Dreambaby Chelsea and Dreambaby Liberty passed the test when fixed to the wall with screws as well as adhesive pads. Which? is advising owners of these gates to secure theirs in this way if possible, and to stop using them if not.
“It’s deeply concerning that so many stair gates have failed our testing,” said Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services. “The safety of children should be the number one priority, but too many are being put at an unacceptable level of risk. Manufacturers must take these results seriously and recall the products if they cannot guarantee their safety.”
Mothercare said in a statement: “The safety of our customers and their children is our highest priority so, as a precaution, we have removed the stair gate from sale while we conduct further investigations and independent testing. We would like to reassure our customers that the stair gate complies with the required safety regulations and has passed all safety testing. We have asked to see a copy of the full Which? report … in order that we can fully investigate the findings.”
This is the second time in less than a year that Which? has uncovered safety issues with stair gates. In October 2018 it found three that failed the fatigue test.
In 2016, Ikea withdrew its Patrull range of gates, on sale in the UK and across the world, following reports that children had fallen down the stairs when the gates opened unexpectedly.
