Three children are injured every hour by a TV, furniture, or an appliance tipping onto them, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
For years, advocacy groups have pressured furniture makers and policymakers to require furniture be made sturdy enough that it won’t tip over.
Consumer Reports is ramping up its efforts.
“We’re now pressing to strengthen the furniture industry’s voluntary safety standard for chests, dressers, and other items, and calling on manufacturers to take more meaningful actions to improve the stability of their products,” the nonprofit writes.
For this reason, Consumer Reports is hoping anyone who has had an incident with tipping furniture, appliances or televisions will share their stories with them at a website they’ve set up for this effort.
Statistics include children who have been injured and taken to the hospital, they also include children killed, but there is currently no way of tracking incidents treated at home or near-misses from unsafe furniture.
You can also find more information about preventing tip-overs in your home here.
The local Kansas City organization, Charlie’s House, also helps educate families in and around Kansas City about the dangers in homes. The nonprofit was started in honor of Charlie Horn, who died when a dresser tipped forward onto him in 2007.
