• April 9, 2012 Update: HPBA CPSC counsel Chuck Samuels reports that on March 27, 2012, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously (4-0) to defer the two petitions to regulate glass fronts for six months, and at the end of the six-month period, direct staff to update the Commission on the progress of the CSA/ANSI standards developments, including for unvented fireplaces.
• January 30, 2012 Update: On Tuesday, January 24^th, HPBA staff and counsel briefed the four U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) members and their staff on the progress being made on the issue of protective barriers for the glass fronts of gas appliances.
• December 20, 2011 Update: After its October 26, 2011, meeting the working group sent draft changes of the standard to the Vented Gas Fireplace Technical Advisory Group (TAG).  The WG decided to let the TAG determine whether the barriers (screens, etc.) would be mandatory or optional.  At its December 13, 2011 meeting in Cleveland, the TAG approved language mandating barriers to protect children and other at-risk people from potential burns.  The amended standard is based on burn potential, not on the actual temperature of the barrier; this is a performance-based standard and not a design standard.  Manufacturers will have the freedom to design products, as long as the outermost surface of the product has a low enough burn potential (in the range of 172º F).

On June 8^th, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published a request for comments on two petitions that it received that requested the regulation of glass fronts on gas fireplaces.  One petition, citing two thousand serious burns over a ten-year period, requested regulations making barriers mandatory.  The other requested the use of an LED-based warning system that the petitioner invented.

The HPBA comments were submitted on August 8^th.  Several member companies also submitted comments.  The entire list of comments can be found at Regulations.gov.

Several years before these petitions were filed, HPBA had created and distributed a consumer brochure to alert consumers of the possible burn hazards of glass fronts. In addition, CSA, the organization that issues safety standards for gas fireplaces, had convened a Working Group to consider what further safety measures were warranted to protect people – especially young children – from burns on glass fronts.  The group started meeting in July, 2010, and has since met in May and August, 2011, with another meeting scheduled in September.

HPBA’s comments had two main points.  First, the comments pointed to the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), which requires CPSC to rely on voluntary standards, instead of regulations, whenever possible.  We said that the CSA Working Group – which includes both HPBA and CPSC representatives – has already been working aggressively on the problem, and that formal changes to CSA’s Z21.50 and Z21.88 standards are being expedited.  As a result, CPSC need not regulate the industry, as the CPSA mandates.

Second, HPBA said that it is developing a more aggressive education program to continually educate the public on the possible burn hazards from glass fronts.  We also included an outline of what such an education plan would look like.

If you are a manufacturer of products that would be affected by any CPSC actions, you should read the HPBA comments.

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