A Quebec coroner is urging Canada to remove all Murphy beds lacking proper safeguards from the market and recommending that only those that comply with international safety standards be sold.
Donald Nicole made 11 recommendations in a coroner’s report published Thursday that looked into the death of a five-year-old boy after a wall bed, also known as a Murphy bed, suddenly opened and came crashing down on him.
The incident occurred on Jan. 12 during a family vacation from Massachusetts to the Village Vacances Valcartier water park resort in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, Que.
Anthony Putnam and his parents had just checked into their room at Hôtel Valcartier on the site of the resort. His father was parking their car and his mother was putting away their belongings while the boy played on a couch that sat immediately under the room’s Murphy bed.
According to the coroner’s report, around 4:30 p.m., the boy grabbed a pair of vertical handles behind the couch and a queen-sized bed suddenly opened — its full weight coming down hard on his head.
The boy was rushed to hospital where he was found to have suffered multiple cranial and facial fractures, as well as several cerebral hemorrhages.
He was taken into emergency surgery where his condition rapidly deteriorated. He was pronounced dead that evening.
Bed lacked safety devices
In his report, Nicole said an analysis revealed the spring mechanisms on either side of the headboard had low resistance and that the bed could launch open at an accelerated speed if it was tugged by even 12 centimetres.
The bed was also not equipped with a locking mechanism to prevent it from opening accidentally due to spring failure and did not comply with the ISO 10131 international safety standard, which is not mandatory in Canada.
“All the evidence gathered shows that young Anthony … died from head injuries resulting from the sudden opening of a vertical fold-down bed that had no locking device to limit its unexpected opening,” Nicole said.
Beds that do not comply with the safety standard have been linked to at least two other deaths in Canada in the last 20 years. On each occasion, coroners have requested that the safety standard be applied.
Nicole said some manufacturers continue to sell Murphy beds built without compliance to the safety standard and without a locking system.
In the days following the accident, Hôtel Valcartier quickly upgraded the safety of each of its 123 Murphy beds — manufactured by Les meubles BOFF Inc. and bought from Matelas Dauphin — by adding a safety notice for users and a restraint device to prevent the beds from opening suddenly.
Coroner calls for mandatory safety standards
But the coroner’s report highlights the lack of change on the part of the bed’s manufacturer since the accident.
Nicole said the general manager of Les meubles BOFF Inc. was unable to confirm that the Murphy beds manufactured by his company were built to ISO 10131 standards. He also could not guarantee the existence of a preventive and periodic maintenance guide to check the tension and calibrate the spring mechanisms.
A visit to the retailer in May 2024 revealed the company was still selling furniture without adequate safety devices.
Nicole said it was therefore “imperative” to make recommendations to “protect human life.”
He recommended the company install safety devices for its Murphy beds and warn past and future customers of the dangers associated with this type of bed that does not comply with ISO 10131. The latter recommendation is also addressed to Matelas Dauphin.
The coroner recommends that Health Canada mandate compliance with the ISO 10131 standard and pull any Murphy bed from the market that does not meet this standard or lacks a safety device.
He also asked Quebec’s main hotel associations to inform their customers of the risks associated with these beds.
In a statement, the Association hôtellerie du Québec said it has taken note of the recommendation and confirmed it will inform “all our members of the risks that Murphy beds that are not equipped with a locking system can present.”
Health Canada did not respond to CBC News’s request for comment at the time of publication.