IKEA Offers Free Wall Anchoring Repair Kit for Chests and Dressers Due to Tip-over Hazard After Two Children Died

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U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Jul 22, 2015, 08:32 ET

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News-Releases/2015/IKEA-Offers-Free-Wall-Anchoring-Repair-Kit-for-Chests-and-Dressers/

Summary

Name of Product: Children's and adult chests and dressers

Hazard: Chests and dressers can tip over if not attached to the wall, posing an entrapment hazard.

Remedy: Repair

Consumer Contact: IKEA toll-free at (888) 966-4532 anytime or online at www.IKEA-USA.com/saferhomestogether for more information on how to receive a free wall anchoring kit.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with IKEA North America, of Conshohocken, Pa, is announcing a repair program that includes a free wall anchoring kit, for their MALM 3- and 4-drawer chests and two styles of MALM 6- drawer chests, and other chests and dressers. The chests and dressers can pose a tip-over hazard if not securely anchored to the wall.

IKEA received reports of two children who died after MALM chests tipped over and fell on them. Consumers should immediately stop using all IKEA children's chests and dressers taller than 23 ½ inches and adult chests and dressers taller than 29 ½ inches, unless they are securely anchored to the wall. The free wall anchoring kit should be used to secure MALM and other IKEA chests and dressers to the wall.

About 7 million MALM chests and 20 million other IKEA chests and dressers are part of the nationwide repair program.

CPSC and IKEA received a report that in February 2014, a 2-year-old boy from West Chester, Pa. died after a MALM 6-drawer chest (48 3/8 inches high) tipped over and fatally pinned him against his bed. CPSC and IKEA also received a report that in June 2014, a 23-month-old child from Snohomish, Wash. died after he became trapped beneath a 3-drawer (30 ¾ inches high) MALM chest that tipped over. Neither chest had been secured to the wall. IKEA and CPSC have also received 14 reports of tip-over incidents involving MALM chests, resulting in four injuries. Since 1989, IKEA is aware of three additional reports of deaths from tip-overs involving other models of IKEA chests and dressers.

IKEA is offering U.S. consumers a wall anchoring repair kit free of charge for use with the MALM chests, IKEA children's chests and dressers taller than 23 ½ inches, and IKEA adult chests and dressers taller than 29 ½ inches. The kit contains replacement tip-over restraints for use by any consumer who has not secured their IKEA chest or dresser to the wall. The kit also includes complete wall anchoring hardware, instructions and warning labels to be affixed to the furniture.

CPSC and IKEA are urging consumers to inspect their IKEA chests and dressers to ensure that they are securely anchored to the wall. Consumers should move unanchored chests and dressers into storage or other areas where they cannot be accessed by children until the chests and dressers are properly anchored to the wall.

The MALM chests that are part of the repair program were sold starting in 2002. The price of the chests range from about $80 to $200.

To receive a free wall anchoring kit, visit an IKEA retail store, go to www.IKEA-USA.com/saferhomestogether, or call (888) 966-4532.

A child dies every two weeks and a child is injured every 24 minutes in the U.S. from furniture or TVs tipping over, according to CPSC data. To help prevent injuries and deaths, CPSC and IKEA urge consumers to securely anchor furniture and TVs to prevent these tragedies and make their home a safer place. For more information, visit www.AnchorIt.gov and www.IKEA-USA.com/saferhomestogether.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals – contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.

Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary corrective action plan by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired. Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters.

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SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission