The STURDY Act would direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to adopt a stronger, mandatory stability standard for storage units, including chests, bureaus, and dressers; according to the CPSC, tip-overs of furniture, TVs, and appliances cause over 25,400 injuries per year as children are crushed, trapped or struck by falling objects, and the majority of these incidents involve furniture tip-overs.
After a falling IKEA Malm dresser caused the death of a 22-month old from Apple Valley, Minnesota in February, Klobuchar urged the CPSC to take action to prevent further injuries and deaths and for IKEA to safeguard its customers
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar joined with U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Richard Blumenthal to introduce a new bill to protect children from tipping furniture. The Stop Tip-over of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act would direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission (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. After a falling IKEA Malm dresser caused the death of a 22-month old from Apple Valley, Minnesota in February, Klobuchar urged the CPSC to take action to prevent further injuries and deaths and for IKEA to safeguard its customers. According to the CPSC, tip-overs of furniture, TVs, and appliances cause over 25,400 injuries per year as children are crushed, trapped or struck by falling objects, and the majority of these incidents involve furniture tip-overs.
“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. Our new bill expands this call to action by ensuring stronger standards across the board that will help protect more children from the risks of furniture tip-overs.”
The STURDY Act gives the industry standards organization ASTM 180 days from the date of enactment to publish a stronger stability standard for clothing storage units, which the CPSC can adopt as mandatory if the Commission determines that it adequately protects children from tip-over related injury or death. If ASTM does not publish an adequate voluntary standard within 180 days, the CPSC would be required to issue a final, mandatory safety standard for clothing storage units within 540 days of enactment.
In May, Klobuchar, Schakowsky, and Casey wrote a letter to the CPSC that called for action to prevent future possible injuries and deaths by conducting a full recall of 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.
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