Safe Beginnings: Standards Protect Babies
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Safe Beginnings: Standards Protect Babies
PhD Carla Nooijen
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Carla Nooijen is dedicated to safe movement, a committee chairwoman and mother of small children. She works as a safety and compliance specialist at the BabyBjörn product development department. As safety is at core she is involved in every step of the way. Her background is in human movement science where she has a PhD. Carla chose this field as she has a great interest in the human body and user centrics and – she likes challenges.
You moved from accessible mobility to babywearing, was that a natural step?
“Yes, I love to help those that can benefit from extra movement and it combines biomechanics, anatomy and physiology so there are many things that translate.”
Carla is a member of both the US and European baby carrier standard committee and is the appointed chairwoman of the ASTM breathability subcommittee, and explains it:
“I have an active role in shaping standards and guidelines that contribute to the end goal which is fewer incidents and safer products overall. It also means that we as a company share the knowledge that we have for the greater good.”
Why is there such a focus on breathability?
“There is a knowledge gap today regarding breathability and there are three task groups – airflow resistance, CO₂ storage capacity, and firmness. Our work includes multiple children’s products, from beds to bouncers.”
How does the standard committee help parents?
“We can ensure that the products for the most vulnerable consumers are safer, and we can encourage that design of products that make life easier is based on safety.”
What is most challenging in the standard committee work?
“Development of new test methods takes time and needs multiple iterations in order to end up with a final method that works. Just like product development.”
What is the main focus right now for the committee?
“We shall further investigate the proposed test methods, iterate, improve, and understand for what products they can add value. Also, there is lots of expertise in these groups which is not shared enough – there can never be enough communication from reliable sources.”
What do you wish all parents knew concerning babies’ breathing conditions?
“The importance of being extra mindful when the baby has a respiratory infection.”
How does being a parent of small children affect your work as child safety specialist?
“It helps me understand that you can't expect everyone to follow all instructions, and therefore the importance of designing products that are well thought out and have by design reduced risks rather than relying on correct settings only.”
“Having small children myself helps me understand that you can't expect everyone to follow all instructions.”
About the standard committee:
Members include NGOs, CPSC, consumers, experts, companies and laboratories.
They meet twice a year and in between, the task groups meet to follow up and make progress on specific subjects.
The decisions are based on a combination of internal and external data such as incident statistics, scientific articles, and expert opinions.
The process to reach an actual standard change or guideline is based on thorough consensus including different test methods on reliability and validity, optimizing, evaluating, and finally implementing.
In the meetings they share presentations with data on incidents and test results. The discussions are focused on developing new test methods and improving current ones.
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