NBCNew Child Deaths from Tipping Turniture Prompt Warning

Unexpected threat: Tipping furniture causes child deaths
By Lilly Fowler
FairWarning
updated 8/9/2012 9:00:09 AM ET
Toppling furniture has injured tens of thousands of children and killed
scores in recent years, according to data from the U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission, yet many parents are unaware of the danger posed by
even small pieces of furniture.
Jenny Horn Two-­‐year-­‐old Charlie Horn died in 2007 when he was pinned beneath a dresser in his bedroom in Kansas City, Mo. Charlie’s House, a volunteer organization dedicated to child safety, is named after him. That is prompting CPSC officials, consumer advocates, and furniture and
electronics industry executives to explore ways to make dressers, storage
cabinets, TVs and other heavy household items more stable. They also want
to alert parents about these little-known hazards.
“Furniture was designed for the convenience of adults, child injury was
never considered,” explained Dr. Gary Smith, president of the nonprofit
Child Injury Prevention Alliance and a pediatrician at Nationwide
Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Parents “simply don’t know that
they’ve got this danger lurking.”
Even safety-conscious parents mindful of the potential for tall furniture to tumble can be caught by surprise,
with tragic consequences.
For instance, Jenny Horn, a mother and nurse in Kansas City, Mo., secured a tall armoire in her home to keep it
from tipping. But she had no inkling that a relatively small item could be a hazard – until 2007, when her 2year-old son, Charlie, choked to death underneath a 30-inch dresser in his bedroom.
The person taking care of Charlie at the time thought the young child was sleeping, and didn’t hear any loud
noise even when the dresser toppled onto him after he apparently climbed on it. “They call it a silent death,”
Horn said. Children “are a cushion for the fall of the dresser so you don’t necessarily hear a sound.”
In a similar accident, Kimberly Packard, a physical therapist in Sterling, Mass., lost her 3-year-old daughter,
Meghan, in 2004.
“By the time we found her, it was too late,” Packard said, explaining that her husband and Meghan’s twin
brother, Ryan, discovered her underneath a dresser.
Like Horn, Packard had taken precautions, securing taller bookcases to a wall, but she also never suspected that
smaller pieces of furniture could pose a threat.
“I’m a well-educated woman. I’m well-connected in the world of safety,” said Packard, who teaches CPR and
childbirth classes. “And I didn’t know.”
In 2010, the most recent year for which federal estimates are available, unstable furniture sent about 23,600
people – the highest number since 2006 – to emergency rooms. Most of the injured were less than 10 years old.
Another estimated 20,000 people in 2010 were hurt by TVs, which experts say are often precariously placed on
furniture not designed to support the sets.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48573739/ns/health-­‐childrens_health/t/unexpected-­‐threat-­‐tipping-­‐furniture-­‐causes-­‐child-­‐deaths/#.UJlhE_H8mwI The injuries include serious bruising, internal organ injuries and fractures. And from 2000 through 2010, the
CPSC received reports of close to 300 deaths, mostly involving children who were crushed, in such accidents.
Since 2000, the furniture industry has been guided by a succession of voluntary stability standards for dressers
and other wardrobe storage units.
The current standard, in effect since in 2009, calls for
furniture to remain steady when all drawers are open and
when a 50-pound weight is placed at the front of a drawer.
That is meant to simulate a child around the age of 5
attempting to climb on furniture.
Chests and dressers also are supposed to have tip restraints
that consumers can use to attach the furniture to a wall.
Members of a panel including CPSC and industry officials,
along with consumer advocates, are in the early stages of
considering whether, and how, to toughen the standard once
again.
Some experts, however, question whether a tougher
voluntary standard would do much good. One key problem:
Some companies simply ignore the guidelines.
Consumer Product Safety Commission This image shows how a child might get injured by tipping over a piece of furniture. Carlton Craig, a product compliance manager at Virginia-based Stanley Furniture Co., said he has seen
competitors sell products that would fail the existing stability standard. “Where you get into trouble is with the
furniture that is less expensive in some of the big box stores,” he said.
1. How parents can prevent tip-overs
Large items such as TVs, bookcases, heavy furniture or fish tanks can fall off stands and seriously harm
children.
o
o
o
o
o
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Secure top-heavy or unstable furniture to a wall stud using brackets, braces, anchors or wall
straps.
Flat screen TVs should be properly anchored to the wall.
Keep heavier items on lower shelves or in lower drawers.
Follow manufacturer's instructions for securing items or regarding placement of your TV or
furniture.
Don't keep remote controls, toys, candy or other items on top of furniture or a high shelf. Young
children may try to reach for them by climbing on drawers.
Supervise young children at all times.
Source: SafeKids.org
Thomas Lowery, who worked in testing and distribution for the Ethan Allen furniture retail chain for 27 years,
agreed that many companies won’t live up to voluntary standards. For some manufacturers, if the rules aren’t
mandatory, “they won’t do it,” he said.
What’s more, the ideas currently under consideration would continue to exempt items without drawers that
children can climb on, such as tables and bookcases.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48573739/ns/health-­‐childrens_health/t/unexpected-­‐threat-­‐tipping-­‐furniture-­‐causes-­‐child-­‐deaths/#.UJlhE_H8mwI Although those items account for many injuries, they aren’t being considered for the possible revised voluntary
standard because they are less likely to be involved in fatal accidents, according to Pat Bowling, a vice president
with the American Home Furnishings Alliance trade group.
Neither is there any apparent push by consumer advocates or anyone else for the CPSC to impose mandatory
government safety rules. Such a measure, aimed at furniture and TV sets, was introduced in Congress in 2005.
Although it was supported by groups such as the Consumer Federation of America, the bill failed.
One of the rationales given for not seeking a mandatory standard now is that a voluntary standard can be
developed and revised more quickly. Scott Wolfson, a CPSC spokesman, added that when immediate action is
needed to get faulty furniture out of the marketplace, his agency works with industry to carry out product
recalls.
According to the CPSC , there have been nine furniture industry recalls since 1992, covering nearly 1.7 million
pieces of potentially wobbly furniture.
Still, a rash of TV and furniture accidents in Illinois prompted U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who represents the state
and is the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat, to push the CPSC to take further steps. One of his requests was
for the CPSC this year to boost efforts to educate the public about the hazards unsecured TV sets can pose to
children.
Meanwhile, the CPSC is studying what kinds of TVs tend to be involved in the incidents.
Experts theorize that the increased numbers of TV set-related accidents in recent years stem, both directly and
indirectly, from the popularity of big flat-screen TVs. One of the key problems: After families buy new TVs,
many put their older, bulkier models on furniture unable to support them.
Even when certain safety initiatives, such as including furniture tip restraints, have been developed, it’s not
clear most families take advantage of them. Earlier this year, the American Home Furnishings Alliance
conducted a telephone survey of 1,000 U.S. households. It found that only 36 percent of households with
children under the age of 6 anchored their TV or furniture to the wall to prevent tip-over accidents.
One possible obstacle is that renters might resist anchoring furniture to avoid disputes with their landlords.
Still, Smith of the nonprofit Child Injury Prevention Alliance said it’s a mistake to blame parents for the
accidents. Instead, he said, businesses, consumers and government should work together and tackle it as a
public health problem.“This is something we need to focus on and do it quickly,” he said.
In the absence of tougher rules, child safety centers have sprouted around the country at hospitals and elsewhere
that work to educate the public about the hazards.
Charlie’s House, for example, which is named after Jenny Horn’s son, is a volunteer organization in Kansas
City, Mo., dedicated to child safety. The nonprofit plans to build a safety demonstration house that parents and
caregivers can walk through to learn about common hazards, including tip-over dangers.
For Horn, efforts to improve awareness of the risks can’t come soon enough.“It can happen to anyone,
anywhere, anytime,” she said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48573739/ns/health-­‐childrens_health/t/unexpected-­‐threat-­‐tipping-­‐furniture-­‐causes-­‐child-­‐deaths/#.UJlhE_H8mwI