There is no question that if a child thinks they can climb on something, they will. Whether it is a ladder, a play structure or a piece of furniture, if a child can get their hands on it there is a good chance that they will try to get on top of it. Our readers in Pittsburgh who are parents may easily remember instances of finding their little ones up on top of tables, counters and other household surfaces where they had no business being.
According to Consumer Reports, American children are suffering more injuries from toppling over furniture than in years past. In particular, the magazine discovered that in 2016 around 2,800 kids were hurt from furniture that fell over. That figure was an increase of around 33 percent over the prior year and most of the pieces of furniture in question were dressers.
One factor that may be contributing to the increase in injuries from falling furniture is the fact that manufacturers are producing a lot of nursery and kids’ room pieces that do not make safety a priority. As such, furniture pieces are put in places where kids can get to them, but that are not designed to stay upright if the weight of a child is placed against them.
Consumer Reports recommends that parents anchor furniture items to the walls to prevent falling furniture from hurting their kids, but also emphasizes that the burden of avoiding these devastating accidents should not be on consumers. Injuries from dangerous products can form the bases of products liability cases that can give victims’ opportunities to recover their damages and become whole in the wake of their injuries.
Source: chicagotribune.com, “Tipping furniture injures more kids than ever, says Consumer Reports,” Cindy Dampier, March 22, 2018