Unstable furniture and appliances one of top home hazards

More than 180 people were killed from 2000-2016 by unstable televisions, furniture  and appliances that tipped over, with four out of five of those deaths involving children under the age of 10, according to a new report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In that time, more than 42,000 people were treated in hospital emergency rooms for tip over related injuries.

These deaths and injuries frequently occur when children climb onto, fall against, or pull themselves up on television stands, bookcases, dressers, chests and oven doors. A heavy television placed on an unstable stand can increase the tip over risk and cause a child to suffer traumatic and sometimes fatal injuries. Between 2016 and 2016 there were at least 40 reports of television or television and furniture related tip over deaths.

“Well, when [an adult] looks at a dresser or a bookshelf [her or she] sees it as a piece of furniture. Kids may actually see it as a ladder or a means to get to something that they really want. So kids may walk up the shelving or the drawers to get things like a stuffed animal, their favorite toy, or even a television remote,” said CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese in an agency podcast.

Consumer Reports experts have tested dressers, armoires and TV stands for tip over hazards in two ways: against current industry safety standards and then while using the furniture as someone might—with drawers full of clothes and fully opened, and with carpeting underneath, for example.  Our findings show that current standards are woefully inadequate.  Some dressers will fall over under their own weight when all the drawers are fully opened—even when the drawers are empty.  The risk of tip over is even higher with clothes in the drawers or with heavy objects perched on top.  Tip restraints that attach the furniture to a wall can help solve the problem, but we know they are seldom used even when included with the product.

Consumers Union has been working to strengthen the furniture safety standards for more than three years but we have been frustrated by resistance from furniture manufacturers whose consensus is required to adopt a stronger standard. Perhaps it will take stronger laws to make manufacturers develop inherently stable furniture.

Our experts suggest that if you have young children in the house, the safest measure is to anchor any potentially unstable furniture to a wall with tip over straps or restraints, and keep heavy objects off the top of dressers. Further, because glass in furniture poses its own hazards (every year, more than 15,000 visits to emergency rooms are prompted by injuries from glass furniture), ask for furniture with safety glass, which is less hazardous than standard glass when it breaks.

CPSC offers these additional safety tips to prevent tip over incidents:

• Place televisions on sturdy furniture appropriate for the size of the TV or on a low-rise base.
• Push the TV as far back as possible from the front of its stand.
• Place electrical cords out of a child’s reach, and teach children not to play with the cords.
• Remove items from the top of the TV and furniture that might tempt kids to climb, such as toys and remote controls.

Taken from http://blogs.consumerreports.org/