The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has approved new standards for furniture to prevent furniture tip-overs that can cause serious injury or death.
The standard applies to chests, dressers, armoires and other similar storage units. According to CPSC data, 43 separate recalls have been issued for 21 million products since 2000. Storage furniture is estimated to have caused more than 84,000 injuries from 2006 through 2021, and the CPSC is aware of at least 234 related deaths, including 199 children.
The standard brings a new stability requirement to the furniture, with “real-world factors” such as the drawers being open or a child climbing up the storage unit. Safety warnings about tip-overs will also be on display.
In a statement announcing the new standard, CPSC chairman Alex Hoehn-Saric said:
“Each year, children are killed or injured in dresser tipover incidents. The standard set today will ensure that dressers are safer and fewer children are at risk.”
S.3232 – STURDY Act 2022
The agency standards follow the passage of the Stop Tip-overs of Unsafe, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act in Congress, which would instruct the CPSC to enact an even stronger standard. The bill is supported by multiple consumer safety advocacy organizations and sponsored by Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA].
The STURDY Act will require the CPSC to revise the safety standards for freestanding clothing storage units such as dressers, bureaus, or chests of drawers. Such standards must include specified testing related to tip overs and new warning requirements for all such products entering the U.S. market.
Here are some additional highlights of the STURDY Act:
- Cover all clothing storage units such as dressers, chests, and bureaus,
- Require testing to simulate the weights of children up to 72 months old,
- Require testing measures to account for scenarios involving carpeting, loaded drawers, multiple open drawers, and the dynamic force of a climbing child
- Mandate strong warning requirements.
Questions About a Furniture Tip-Over Lawsuit? Contact a Johnson//Becker Lawyer for a Free Case Review.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a furniture tip-over accident, you may want to speak with the lawyers at Johnson//Becker, PLLC. We are actively filing new furniture tip-over lawsuits across the country, and you may be entitled to financial compensation.
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