ASTM F 3186 : 2024

1.1This safety specification establishes performance requirements for adult portable bed rails, related products, and adult portable bedrail accessories, including requirements for resistance to entrapment, marking and adhered labels, instructional literature, and advertising.

1.2This standard is applicable to any such product (as defined below) that is not designed as part of the bed by the bed manufacturer, and is installed on, against, or adjacent to the side of an adult bed and is for use by adults to reduce the risk of falling from the bed, assist in repositioning in the bed, assist in transitioning into or out of the bed, or other similar purposes as stated by the manufacturer.

1.3This safety specification includes adult portable bed rails that meet the definition of a medical device and are therefore under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and adult portable bed rails that are not medical devices, and which therefore fall under the jurisdiction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).2

1.4This safety specification does not cover guardrails or side rails intended for use on FDA regulated hospital beds, or portable rails for children which are included in Consumer Safety Specification F1821 for toddler beds, Consumer Safety Specification F2085 for portable bed rails for children, or IEC 60601-2-52 for medical beds.

1.5This safety specification is intended to minimize entrapment and strangulation hazards that are attributed to design components, whether these hazards arise from normal installation and use, reasonably foreseeable mis-installation/misuse, or changes to the stability of the attachment over time, or combinations thereof. Other hazards may exist (for example, falls) that are not within the scope of this specification. Such hazards will be the subject of additional standards.

1.6No adult portable bed rail, or related product as defined in this specification, shall, either by label or other means, indicate compliance with this specification unless it conforms to all the requirements contained herein.

1.7Units—The values stated in inch-pound units are to be regarded as standard. The values given in parentheses are mathematical conversion to SI units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard.

1.8This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.9This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.