According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 71 children per day are injured by falling furniture. That’s a pretty shocking statistic. Even though these injuries are 100 percent preventable, they continue to occur. There are simple steps you can take to reduce the risk of this happening in your home. Even if you don’t have small children, it’s a good idea to check all of your furniture, and make sure it’s secured to the wall.
- Take stock of all of your furniture. Which pieces are not secured to the wall? Some people are surprised to learn that even heavy dressers can tip under the right (or wrong) conditions. Consider a child is trying to climb the dresser. He or she is likely to pull the drawers out and use them as steps. In this scenario even very heavy dressers could fall onto the child. These heavy dressers do a lot of damage when they fall.
- Secure the furniture to the wall using furniture straps. There are many brands on the market to choose from. When installing them, be sure they are secured to a stud in the wall. This will ensure that the straps work when needed.
- Once you’ve secured all the furniture to the wall using the appropriate hardware, look at the top of your furniture. Look for heavy vases, large books, and even TV’s, radios, and record players. Make sure these items are pushed to the back of the furniture. You can also secure them using velcro. Consider using Command No Damage Picture Hanging Strips. Televisions are especially dangerous and should always be strapped to the wall or to the top of the TV stand. There are specialty straps available designed especially for this.
- Now focus on your appliances. Your oven should be installed using an anti-tip bracket. If if isn’t, install one right away. The heat of the oven and the potential for broken gas lines make this tipping hazard even more dangerous. The fridge is less likely to tip, but to be sure, install a fridge door lock.
If there is a certain room in the house with tipping hazards, add an additional layer of safety by installing the Door Monkey childproof door lock.