Beware of Ikea's Unstable Chests And DrawersImagine the horror of a mother who comes to check on her napping toddler, only to find him crushed beneath a six-drawer dresser that had toppled over.
Sadly, the incident that took the life of 22-month-old Ted McGee wasn't just a one-in-a-million tragedy.
Falling furniture -- especially dressers and television sets -- result in the death of at least two children a month and injures an estimated 25,000 every year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
But it wasn't until Ikea announced a recent
recall of 29 million unstable chests and dressers that this hazard began to get widespread attention. In fact, a warning of a tip-over problem with unsecured Ikea dressers, which had already killed two other children, was issued last summer by both the company and the CPSC, but the McGee family was unaware of it.
So what can you do to protect your own kids or grandkids against the danger of such an accident? Some of the precautions recommended by safety experts include:
1. Anchoring any heavy pieces of furniture, such as a dresser or bookcase, to an adjoining wall, using studs.
2. Placing TV sets on low cabinets or stands specifically designed to accommodate them rather than on bureaus, where a study has found they pose a hazard of falling and causing serious head injuries. (And even when in a stand, a TV should not be too close to the edge.)
3. Using drawer stops to keep dresser drawers from being pulled out all the way and falling on a child.
4. Keeping things like toys and remote controls off the tops of furniture where a child might try to reach for them, as well as keeping electrical cords that can become entangled in furniture safely hidden.
And if you have any chests or dressers from Ikea, you should check its website to see if anything in your home is involved in the current recall. If so, the company is offering partial and full refunds, as well as wall-anchoring repair kits.
Source: HSI
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/about_ikea/ne ... d-dressers
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