by Height and weight of such units warrants anchoring them to the wall to avoid tip-over incidents
HIGH POINT — Earlier this year, a good friend in the industry had this reaction to a recall announcement we published that week in Home News Now: “I’m sick of reading about recalls.”
Point well taken. For one, we know regulatory issues are the bane of the industry, as seen by last year’s tumultuous implementation of a tip-over standard for clothing storage units. These types of stories — whether involving a recall or some proposed safety regulation are not the most exciting things to read, at least compared to something like a new collection to be shown at market. After all, new product is what drives the business, particularly products that help drive style trends in the industry.
But we also would suggest that product safety is another key factor in the industry’s success. Thus, it’s long been our opinion that product recalls — no matter how tedious or boring they might seem — alert the industry on the safety issues or pitfalls that are out there, not to mention how to avoid them.
Which brings us to a recent recall that involved the death of a 4-year old child in August 2023 announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission on June 27. The recall was for a Dania Furniture bookcase unit that was involved in a tip-over incident resulting in this tragic occurrence, one that would garner the sympathy of any parent, regardless of their stance on government regulation or oversight. Or whether they were sick of reading about recall announcements.
The fact is that the danger associated with bookcase/display units is nothing new, as illustrated by this particular incident alone. According to CPSC data published earlier this year, there were an average of 1,000 treated injuries in the emergency room for children ages 1-17 between 2020 and 2022 involving tip-over incidents of shelving and bookcase units. Adults ages 18-59 actually made up the largest number of incidents involving these categories, with an average of 1,400 per year, followed by seniors ages 60 and over with 700 incidents on average per year.
In comparison, tip-overs involving chests, bureaus and dressers were associated with an average of 1,800 incidents a year from 2020 to 2022 involving those 1-17, 500 on average for those ages 18-59 and 500 on average for those 60 and over.
It just so happens that bookcase and storage units can usually be found in many different areas of the home, from a child’s bedroom where they display things like books and toys, or in a living room, office or primary/secondary bedroom where they display anything from books to decorative items.
Unfortunately, children are just as likely to climb on these units as they are a dresser or chest to reach something higher than their short grasp will allow. Obviously, adults face the same issue as they too are cited in the data.
The CPSC said that the Dania Furniture bookcase unit in particular was a danger because it was not anchored to the wall. Similar warnings have been and continue to be issued related to clothing storage units. The good news regarding clothing storage units is that under the STURDY Act (Stop Tip-Overs of Risky Dressers on Youth), they now have to meet performance requirements that make them much less likely to tip over even if they are not anchored to the wall. Still, anchoring is an important step to take in order to avoid further calamity.
Yet the problem with bookcase/display units also often has to do with the construction of the units, which often feature relatively lightweight shelving and frames made with medium density fiberboard. Roughly 10 years ago, we had a personal experience in our household with one of these units purchased from Target.
As expected, the product required assembly and patience from those putting it together.
What we didn’t expect was for it to literally fall apart when we raised it up from the floor. There wasn’t any effort whatsoever to try again from the start. The unit was made with substandard, if not flat-out dangerous, materials that would never had lasted long in a child’s bedroom.
Thankfully, it broke apart when it did because if it held books or anything else bearing any weight it would have collapsed just by looking at it from the wrong angle. Obviously an exaggeration, but we didn’t want to take a chance of this collapsing on our 11-year-old daughter had she tried to reach something on one of the upper shelves.
So the message with any kind of storage furniture that a child can access — be it in a child’s bedroom, an office or hallway — is simple: Be sure that it’s sturdy and stable by anchoring it to the wall. And if it shows the least bit of instability when putting it together, take it back to the store where you purchased it. There have simply been too many child injuries and deaths associated with clothing storage units. This is also true with the Hayden bookcase that resulted in one child’s death, which we believe is one death too many.
