New York – Product safety specialists have long warned about the dangerous condition caused by tall furniture that isn’t properly secured. Reports show that two children were crushed to death under heavy dresser drawers from Ikea, a popular furnishings retailer. The store has now issued repair kits to allow consumers to secure their furniture to various types of walls, in case they have not done so thus far. The wall anchor set will be issued for specific pieces of furniture that meet the criteria set by the business, as they are likely to fall over and injure or kill an unsuspecting person. Experts say that all furniture should be checked for safety or a fall hazard by manufacturers and stores before being sold. They note that proper instructions and equipment should be included with all products to ensure secure installation of the furniture. Ikea has included wall anchors with some of their products for several years but it is unclear if the specific units that caused the deaths of these kids had them included. Safety activists warn that the concern is not just regarding these specific accidents or even this specific company. Rather, they note, there are some companies that are more negligent when it comes to consumer safety than others. Explicit warning labels, instructions and equipment as well as constant after-market research is necessary by manufacturers and stores to prevent accidents, injuries and wrongful death. Effort must also be made to prevent heavy, unstable objects, such as a television set, being kept on furniture without proper safety precautions that prevent the object from being pulled or falling onto a victim. Businesses that do not do this may face a negligence lawsuit for manufacturing or selling a hazardous product. Additional information on this topic and the fatally injured children is available here.
Illustrative photo by: BeckyF [License]