Six Continents Hotels, Inc., the world’s most global hotel company (www.6C.com), has announced that it is implementing new crib standards in the Americas region for its Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites hotel brands.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (U.S. CPSC) has reports of more than 100 children under the age of 2 years who died in their sleep as a result of suffocation, entrapment, a fall or a situation in which bedding, or the position of the child in the bed, was related to the death.

Six Continents Hotels, Inc. has pledged its commitment, time and resources to institute safety principles in all its business practices, and has developed its new, more comprehensive crib standards to meet or exceed current safety standards as established by the CPSC. The new standards will be effective December 1, 2002, for all affected hotels.
The crib standards include the following components, among others:

Crib frames must be of durable steel construction with caster locks and a lockable mattress support board.

Bedding will consist of a zippered sheet and a crib blanket. The zippered sheet ensures that the mattress is securely enclosed and the sheet will remain in place.

Crib mattresses, manufactured especially for cribs, must come with custom labels to clearly specify the crib model for which it is made to ensure that incorrect mattresses are not placed in the crib.

Crib safety tips card will be placed in all cribs at the time of delivery to the guestroom to help educate parents on safer crib practices.

Cribs will be equipped with bilingual instructions.

In addition to the product specific requirements, Six Continents Hotels has mandated that all housekeeping staff be trained with approved training standards to properly use and care for cribs and mattresses.

“The safety of all of our guests is one of the cornerstones of our business. We have taken a proactive approach to enhance the safety of the cribs used at properties in our system ,” said Angela Brav, senior vice president, franchise services and quality, Six Continents Hotels. “Educating hotels’ housekeeping staffs on proper crib safety and care is also an important component of our new guidelines and we have implemented a comprehensive training program for them. Having safer cribs and properly trained employees on the use and maintenance of cribs will provide our adult guests with peace of mind and enable our youngest guests to sleep well when at one of our system’s hotels.”

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