Spring Cleaning Tips from the Consumer Product Safety Commission

By Joe Messa

Apr 25

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), a child in the United States is hurt every 30 minutes and every two weeks, a child in the United States dies as a result of a furniture or TV tip-over incident. The seasonal change between Spring and Summer is a great time to take the necessary pro-active steps to safeguard your home against these potentially devestating accidents.

The CPSC studied nearly 300 reports of nonfatal tip-over incisdents in order to better understand their causes. As a result of those in-depth studies, the CPSC can offer these facts & tips for you to use in your home.

  • 83.5% of TV tip-overs occur when a child climbs on furniture, causing the television set to fall.
    Spring Cleaning Tip: Mount TVs on the wall or place on/in furniture designed to hold a television set. It might also be a good idea to remove any items that would tempt a child to climb.
  • More than 90% of TV tip-over incidents involve CRT Tvs, which are the older, bulkier television sets. The sets are front-heavy, which makes them high risk for top over incidents. When they do tip-over, they have the potential to fall with the force of up to 12,000 pounds.
    Spring Cleaning Tip: Rid your home of the danger completely. Recylce the CRT TV.
  • In all but one of the 300 incident reports involved in the study, anti-tip devices were not installed. Newer furniture and flat-screen TVs are sold with anchoring hardware and pre-drilled holes in order to secure these pieces to the wall and prevent them from tipping over. Anchoring these pieces is simple and only takes a few minutes.
    Spring Cleaning Tip: Purchase anti-tip kits for all of the unsecured furniture in your home, especially pieces with heavy fixtures on top.

New Jersey and Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorneys

The personal injury attorneys at Messa & Associates, P.C. are experienced with cases involving defective products as well as injuries to children. If you or a loved one has been injured in a tip-over accident or by a defective or faulty product, please do not hesitate to contact us by calling, toll free, 877-MessaLaw, for a free consultation. You may also submit an online inquiry and received a free case evaluation.

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About the Author

Joseph L. Messa, Jr. is the founding partner of Messa & Associates, P.C. He is an AV-rated attorney (highest rating available), listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Read More