5.5.0.7: Storage of Plastic Bags

Plastic bags, whether intended for storage, trash, diaper disposal, or any other purpose, should be stored out of reach of children.

RATIONALE

Plastic bags have been recognized for many years as a cause of suffocation. Warnings regarding this risk are printed on diaper-pail bags, dry-cleaning bags, and so forth. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has received average annual reports of twenty-five deaths per year to children due to suffocation from plastic bags. Nearly 90% of the reported deaths were to children under the age of one (1).

TYPE OF FACILITY

Center, Early Head Start, Head Start, Large Family Child Care Home, Small Family Child Care Home

REFERENCES

1. U.S. Consumer Safety Commission (CPSC). Children still suffocating with plastic bags. Document #5604. Bethesda, MD: CPSC. http://nurse.png.woodcrest.schoolfusion.us/modules/locker/files/get_group_file.phtml?fid=2333676&gid=572924&sessionid=e71cb1192f18078f5dbd2fbf4f1f63bb