Furniture related tip-over accidents occur throughout the household. The results of these accidents can be dangerous and in some cases life threatening, especially to the young small children of the household. Since 1989, at least six child deaths and over 70 injuries in tip-over furniture related accidents have occurred. Most recently, in the past three years there have been three child deaths and numerous reported and unreported injuries as a result of Ikea furniture related tip-over accidents. These accidents have forced Ikea to recall various free-standing furniture.
In 2016, Ikea struck an agreement with federal regulatory officials to announce a recall over their furniture related to tip-over accidents, specifically free-standing dressers and chests. The recall applies to over 29 million pieces of furniture in the United States, in what is the largest furniture safety recall in American history according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Elliot F. Kaye, the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, delivered a statement speaking to the dangerousness of the recalled Ikea furniture. Kaye emphasized the seriousness of the dangers in those households with young children because in many cases children attempt to climb or pull on the furniture, and if the furniture is free-standing, a tip-over related accident may occur.
According to the recall agreement, customers are able to choose from two options. The first option is Ikea will pick up all recalled furniture from the customer’s home and offer the customer a refund. According to the second option, Ikea is offering to install wall anchor kits to secure the recalled furniture to a wall or any other secure surface for those customers not looking to return their recalled dressers and chests.
Currently, Ikea faces two lawsuits and a third is being filed as a result of the recent devastating deaths of three children. The lawsuits against Ikea focus on claims of wrongful death and the families are accusing Ikea of not supplying consumers with appropriate hardware to secure tip-over products and that the company had knowledge that the dressers “presented an unreasonable tip-over hazard.”
For more information about this Ikea furniture recall and to see if your Ikea dresser or chest has been subject to the recall visit:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/about_ikea/newsitem/062816-recall-chest-and-dressers
For all other Ikea recall information visit: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/about_ikea/newsroom/product_recalls