A recent recall notice has been issued by a children’s furniture manufacturer based on fears of the armoires, dressers, and hutches tipping over. Pali Designs, Inc., a Canadian manufacturer, issued the voluntary recall notice based on a report that the hardware included with the furniture to anchor it to the wall, even when used correctly, was defectively manufactured and can break, allowing the furniture to become unmoored from the wall and tip over. No injuries associated with this defect have yet been reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), the governmental body that monitors product safety and acts as a recall notice clearinghouse. The recall applies to eight separate lines of furniture manufactured by the company between January of 2006 and September of 2010, sold in independent children’s furniture stores, online, and at Babies ‘R’ Us. A complete list of model names and serial numbers for the affected products can be found on the CPSC’s website. 

Furniture and appliance tip-overs are not often discussed, but they are surprisingly common injuries. Experts believe that tip-over injuries and deaths, largely occurring to children, are under-reported due to the guilt parents experience for these injuries, since tip-overs often occur while parents are out of the room and children are climbing on furniture unsupervised. Here are some important facts about tip-over injuries:

*Between 2011 and 2013, 430 individuals, nearly all children, were fatally injured when a piece of furniture or appliance tipped over onto them.

*The CPSC estimates that one tip-over-related death occurs every two weeks

*25,400 tip-over-related injuries are estimated to occur every year in the United States.

*ASTM, the international safety standards association, has issued the standard that bedroom furniture must be able to withstand the pull force of a 50-lb weight while all drawers are full and open without tipping over. In order to meet this standard, furniture often must be anchored to the wall.

*This standard was adopted in May of 2009. However, the standard is voluntary, and some independent furniture manufacturers aren’t aware of the standard or simply don’t comply with it.

If you or your child have been injured by falling furniture, and you believe that safety measures provided by the manufacturer were insufficient or defective, or that the risk of tipping was not made clear, you may be eligible to receive compensation through a product liability lawsuit. Contact the experienced Morristown personal injury and product liability attorneys at Smith and Doran for a free consultation on your potential claim. Call 973-292-0016 from anywhere in Morris County, Bernardsville, Madison, Stirling, Somerset County, Union County, or Warren County.