According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), tip-overs of furniture, TVs, and appliances cause over 15,000 injuries per year to children under 9 who are crushed, trapped, or struck by falling objects
After a 22-month old from Apple Valley was killed by a falling Malm dresser, Klobuchar successfully pushed IKEA to issue a recall of dresser; Now, Klobuchar is pressing Congress to swiftly pass her legislation, the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act, to protect more children and families
WASHINGTON, DC – Following new Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar has called on Congress to pass legislation to protect children from furniture tip-overs. According to the CPSC, tip-overs of furniture, TVs, and appliances cause over 15,000 injuries per year to children under 9 who are crushed, trapped, or struck by falling objects. After a 22-month old from Apple Valley was killed by a falling Malm dresser earlier this year, Klobuchar successfully pushed IKEA to issue a recall of dresser. Now, Klobuchar is pressing Congress to swiftly pass legislation she introduced in June with U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act. The STURDY Act would direct the CPSC to adopt a stronger, mandatory stability standard for storage units, including chests, bureaus, and dressers, which are a major category of furniture at risk for tipping over.
“No family should live in fear that their child could be severely injured or even killed by a preventable tip-over of household furniture,” said Klobuchar. “After a 22-month old from Apple Valley, Minnesota was killed by a falling Malm dresser, I called on the Consumer Product Safety Commission to take action to prevent further injuries and deaths and on IKEA to act to safeguard its customers. While the dangerous IKEA dressers have been recalled and are no longer being sold, these alarming new reports show that more needs to be done. Our bill expands this call to action by ensuring stronger standards for all manufacturers that will help protect more children from the risks of furniture tip-overs.”
The CPSC report echoes many of the findings of a recent study by Kids in Danger (KID), a child safety advocacy organization. KID found that fewer than half of the furniture units they tested met the ASTM stability standard, and the organization recommended that the standards be made stronger, mandatory and enforceable. The reports can be found below.
CPSC Report on the ASTM Standard for Clothing Storage Units: www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Staff%20Briefing%20Package%20on%20Furniture%20Tipover%20-%20September%2030%202016_0.pdf
CPSC Report on Tip-over Injuries and Fatalities: www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/Product%20Instability%20or%20Tip%20Over%20Report%20August%202016_0.pdf
KID report: http://www.kidsindanger.org/docs/news/Furniture_Stability_Press_Release.pdf
In May, Klobuchar, Casey, and Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) wrote a letter to the CPSC that called for action to prevent future possible injuries and deaths by conducting a full recall of IKEA Malm dressers, stopping the sale of Malm dressers until safety improvements are made, and determining an appropriate remedy for consumers who have purchased Malm dressers that includes a full refund. Also in May, in a letter to the President of IKEA North America, Klobuchar and Schakowsky called for a full recall of Malm dressers, stopping the sale of Malm dressers until safety improvements are made, and determining an appropriate remedy for customers who have purchased Malm dressers that includes offering a full refund. Following those efforts, CPSC and IKEA announced in June that they would be heeding the lawmakers’ calls to recall the dresser, halt further sales until safety improvements are made, and offer refunds for consumers who had purchased the dresser.
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