New campaign can help prevent TV and furniture tip-over deaths and injuries

Friday, July 31, 2015

A trip to the emergency room for a child is something all parents try to avoid. However, one of the top hidden hazards in the home can quickly find parents making that dreaded trip.

Every 24 minutes in the United States, a child goes to the emergency room because of an accident involving tipped-over furniture or a TV, said Gina Peek, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension housing and consumer specialist. The majority of tip-over incidents result in head injuries.

To help combat this problem, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is raising awareness about the dangers of furniture and TV tip-overs with its Anchor It! campaign.

“This new campaign is a call to action to help ensure parents and caregivers learn about these dangers and take simple, low-cost steps to prevent a tragedy,” Peek said. “Children are naturally curious and like to climb on furniture, but this curiosity can be extremely dangerous and even deadly. Younger children are most likely to be injured or die because of tip-overs. On average, one child dies every two weeks when a TV or furniture falls onto him or her. This is why this new campaign is so important.”

Parents and caregivers may ask themselves what pieces of furniture need to be anchored. The answer is dressers, televisions and large furniture such as bookcases.

Although newer, flat screen televisions are not as heavy as those from several years ago, they still should be anchored to the wall or a piece of furniture to keep them from tipping over.

If anchoring it simply is not an option, Peek suggests placing a television on a sturdy, low base and place it as far back as possible.

“If you’ve recently bought a new TV to replace an older, heaver model, recycle it as soon as possible,” she said.

Dressers and bookshelves can be very appealing to young children, especially when they discover they can pull out the drawers to form steps, or simply crawl up the shelves like a ladder.

Heavier items should be stored on the lowest shelves or in the lower drawers to help keep a dresser or bookshelf from becoming top heavy. Do not store things to which children are likely to be attracted on top of dressers or on higher shelves of a bookcase.

Parents do not think twice about installing cabinet locks, electrical outlet covers and moving dangerous chemicals from lower cabinets to higher cabinets. Installing anchors on furniture and televisions should be second-nature as well.

“It doesn’t take long to install anchors and it can mean the difference between life and death. Don’t take that chance,” Peek said.