**Fireplace safety rules to change thanks to Canadian pediatrician **
January 23, 2012
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
Staff Reporter
A relentless decade-long campaign by a Canadian pediatrician is about to change North American safety standards to protect children from scorching their skin on glass fireplace doors.
The North American industry group Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association](http://www.hpba.org/) on Tuesday will meet with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission](http://www.cpsc.gov/) about new rules to make screens in gas-fired glass front fireplaces mandatory.
At least 2,000 small children have suffered serious burns between 1999 and 2009 from touching the glass fronts of gas fireplaces, which can reach 200 C just 10 minutes after the fire is switched on and take 30 minutes to cool down.
Investigations, particularly by FairWarning.org](http://www.fairwarning.org/2011/01/hundreds-of-toddlers-are-burned-by-broiling-fireplace-glass-as-businesses-write-their-own-safety-rules/), have described toddler’s skin sticking and “melting” onto the white-hot glass doors. Dr. Cynthia Verchere](http://www.surgery.ubc.ca/faculty/cverchere.html), a pediatric plastic surgeon who has led the campaign, has called the glass doors like “having your oven on with the door open in the middle of your living room.”
Verchere, who works at British Columbia Children’s Hospital](http://www.bcchildrens.ca/default.htm), said one to two dozen burn victims turn up in the emergency room each year.
“Each winter I see more than a dozen second and third degree fireplace burns, mostly on the hands and faces of toddlers,” she said. “These burns are incredibly painful, and can take months to years to heal with repeated medical visits, possible skin grafts, rehabilitation and potential loss of range of motion. In most cases the incident happens while adults are in the room supervising.”
“She spearheaded this,” HPBA spokeswoman Leslie Wheeler told the *Star *on Monday of Verchere.
Prodded by Verchere and HPBA’s Canadian branch, HPBA in the U.S. started a few years ago to include warning labels with all glass fronted gas fireplaces.
And prodded again by the Canadian Standards Association Working Group](http://www.hpba.org/government-affairs/major-projects/UpdateonGlassFrontFireplacesandHeaters_1ac.pdf), the HPBA has now put together industry-wide rules requiring fireplace glass doors to be shielded by a screen.
“It will get hot, yes, but it won’t cause burns,” Wheeler said of the screens.
Wheeler said the new rules for all North American manufacturers should be in place via the CSA and the American National Standards Institute by mid-2012 and will come with a fresh education campaign.
The HPBA changes started in 2007. Wheeler acknowledged some in the industry resisted mandatory screens in favour of warning labels. The CSA Technical Advisory Group, acting on the Working Group’s recommendations, declared in December they should be mandatory.
The industry is trying to stave off government rules via the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the HPBA’s Tom Stroud acknowledged.
While some fireplace manufacturers include screens now, “many of them do not.”
And some homeowners, she pointed out, don’t like the screens blocking the “pretty” view of the crackling fire.
CSA standards now tell consumers: “Always turn off the appliance when babies or young children are to be active in the area, or put up a permanent screen or gate if you use the fireplace as your main heat source in the home.”
If you wish to call your self a liar thats fine by me .
Looks like you are again confirming your Brain is addled .
Quote:
("Children, ages newborn to two-years-old, are most frequently admitted for emergency burn care in a hospital. The kitchen is the most frequent area in the home where burn injuries occur for children newborn to four. The next most frequent area is in the bathroom. ")
So you say does that mean we should not put protection in Fire places.
This is my last post to you on this subject .
Thanks for proving again how silly you are
If you wish to call your self a liar thats fine by me .
Looks like you are again confirming your Brain is addled .
Quote:
[size=2]("Children, ages newborn to two-years-old, are most frequently admitted for emergency burn care in a hospital. The kitchen is the most frequent area in the home where burn injuries occur for children newborn to four. The next most frequent area is in the bathroom. ")
So you say does that mean we should not put protection in Fire places.
This is my last post to you on this subject .
Thanks for proving again how silly you are [/size]
(" see Mike Larson is burning you again on the nachi board.")
Thanks for the email you really are silly,
Tell me is it true you are a Sanitary Engineer
A fancy name for a garbage collector with what you post I wonder .
For a change you two are squibbling, your worse than my kids. Get over yourselves.
Roy thanks for the post. It is interesting, and I think is probably one of the safety improvements that would be welcomed. Burns are horrific on yourself, and you can sympathize with children that get burns, some of the bubble wrapped kids I know could do with a layer or two less to be frank, but this one I do agree with. I got a burn from my oven the other day, just another mishap in the kitchen of a mother, but that was my own stupid fault, I don’t believe my oven door gets anywhere near to the temperature of a fireplaces glass screens, however an element that is burning red at the moment of contact, let me tell you it removes skin mightily quickly! Ouch.
If however my oven door were to get as hot as a fireplace screen then I think it would be time to get a new oven. Parents need to be responsible for these accidents with such small children, but given the amount of morons that are barely capable of looking after themselves then sometimes you have to put in features to prevent their kids from getting burned. I’m still amazed by how many people ride around with their dog on their lap, mandatory seatbelts for dogs will be next.
Micheal I sure hope you do wear your seatbelt or a helmet on a bike! Not saying I think you don’t, I just hope you do.
What do you think I should do Kathleen?
Michael loves to hijack many posts .
He has no idea how to behave him self and leave me and others alone .
A serious post to him is just another chance for him to ridicule some one!
I see that Roy, and I have nothing to say as to what Micheals motive’s are, I don’t know the whole history, I like Micheal though, and you, you both have a great deal to offer, and I would rather you could both behave in the same thread than act like a pair of school girls.
I think this is a serious post and I agree there isn’t any place in this for the hijacking. It seems to be a sickness on these boards though, with all the hostilities between certain members, I believe Jeffrey Jonas offered some valid advise on another thread and he was thrown to the dogs for his advise, it works both ways. I would seriously love to see you both put this to one side in serious threads. Save your squabbles for more appropriate threads.
You both antagonism each other, that is clear. But i think you are both in the right for not blocking each other. Please try to clear the air a little between you two, it’s tiring for all us spectators.
Thanks Kevin but if you had been challenged as much as I have I expect you too might just get fed up enough to reply .
It is obvious you have little idea about how Michael has attacked many people .
He Has been put on the ignore list by more then One .
He has caused more then one to think about leaving NACHI and some have followed through with leaving NACHI .
This is not new with him as it has gone on for years .
How many times Kevin would it be before you posted back at me if I continued to call you a liar.
Michael sits on the NACHI lame duck Discipline committee called ESOP .
He should not be baiting people or saying any thing detrimental about any member .
Being a person who could have to Judge a member should walk a narrow line and set an example of proper procedures .
He just confirms the ESOP is just as useless now as it has always been .
Fellas, fellas… easy. The way I see it is this, protection of children should be our main concern. So, Mr. Larson to answer your question… yes, a barrier should be put up for any appliance, an oven inclusive, that has the potential to injure a child. Since they are not aware of the dangers, we as parents, are responsible for their safety. I’m confident you would agree. In the case of the fireplace glass. We know it will get hot and the fire dancing in the firebox will attract a child’s attention… So, again, yes some type of barrier to keep the child away from the hot glass would be highly recommended. I know I’d put one up.
Since you ask my advice is to restrict your comments to the subject at hand and ignore all the BS that is not related to the thread.
Works for me most of the time.
