AUGUST 1997
Media Contact: BOB VAN LOAN
214-312-3506
van_loan@aafes.e-mail.com"AAFES LAUNCHES CHILD SAFETY AWARENESS PROGRAM TO PREVENT SHOPPING CART INJURIES"
DALLAS, TX - AUGUST 1997 - Exchange customers can prevent shopping cart accidents if they know the potential hazards, monitor children's activities and use child safety straps when transporting young children in carts. At the same time, store employees can alert customers to potential hazards, mention safety measures and monitor the condition of shopping carts, child safety straps, infant seats and other child accommodation features.
Those are the key message of a new campaign by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) now in progress. Its goal is to prevent shopping cart accidents through greater awareness and use of safety enhancing measures by both customers and store employees.
The program is part of a national safety campaign to address the total problem of child safety in shopping carts. The campaign is a joint project of Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.
AAFES will promote shopping cart safety in several different ways. Plastic seat flaps on all carts will be inscribed with the message, "Child In Seat Must Wear Safety Strap". Signs will be posted at shopping cart storage locations illustrating proper wearing of the strap and emphasizing the danger involved with failure to do so. All shopping carts procured by AAFES will come equipped with either a safety strap or an infant seat. AAFES associates will be trained to spot potentially dangerous activities and alert parents.
"Exchange management has always been concerned about the safety of all their customers, including their children," said Marty Maston, vice president of the AAFES Main Stores Strategic Business Group. "This national campaign emphasizes parental awareness and supervision, along with instructions on the proper use of seat belts and the proper ways of dealing with older children, who are known to cause many of the accidents. Our industry also has pledged to make seat belts conveniently available for any shopper with young children who would want them and to promote their proper use."
For more information on child safety and shopping carts, contact Bob Van Loan, Senior Business Program Specialist, HQ, AAFES, at 214-312-3506 or on the Internet at van_loan@aafes.e-mail.com.