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"When Furniture Kills:" Let's Cut Through the Hype
And what is the responsibility of the designer or manufacturer?
There is actually a headline going around this morning that refers to "Ikea's Deathtrap Drawers." Are you kidding me?
Here's what the headline, and other shrill ones like it, are referring to. It's come to light that in 2014, in separate instances, two American children died when they were crushed to death by dresser-drawers from Ikea. The furniture pieces in question were not anchored to the wall, and the children were crushed when the dressers (one roughly 48" tall, the other roughly 30" tall) tipped over onto them.
Details of the deaths are not mentioned, but I think it's a fair bet that the dressers did not spontaneously tip over. Children like to climb things, and if you imagine the top drawer wide open and a child hanging his weight on the front edge of it, you can imagine the rest.
The dressers in question are part of Ikea's Malm line, which are not significantly different than any other mass-market dresser. Ikea has sold them in the millions and each comes with a wall-anchoring kit as well as instructions for how to install it. The story is coming to light now because Ikea has announced they are offering free wall-anchoring kits to the 27 million Ikea customers who have purchased the Malm and other dressers like it from them.
Again, the units originally shipped with wall anchoring kits. Ikea is offering them again in hopes customers will actually use them this time.
The deaths of two children in one year is a terrible thing, but this is not an epidemic. CNN crunched the numbers in a Consumer Product Safety Commission report [PDF] on furniture-based injuries and found that "a child dies every two weeks from furniture or TVs tipping over," and even that is hard to call an epidemic; because according to the CDC, two children die every day from accidental drowning. That should be the cause of more concern, if making a numerical difference is the goal; the drowning deaths outnumber the deaths from falling furniture—including falling TVs—by a factor of 14.
Of course, no child should ever be killed by a piece of furniture, not in an age when we're conquering so many of the things that have cut childrens' lives short for millenia. So where is the problem here? We here in America love to blame people (particularly independent of facts and data), so here are some of the opinions you might hear from the general public:
It's the designer's fault.
Certainly not. Millions of people use these products without issue, and the products were designed to be anchored to the wall.
It's the manufacturer's fault.
Again I have to say no. The manufacturer includes the anchoring kit and instructions.
It's the children's fault.
You just know that some dumb-ass will write this on some internet forum.
It's the parent's fault for not supervising the children.
This is ridiculous. Anyone with children knows 100% omnipresent supervision is not physically possible.
It's the parent's fault for not anchoring the dresser to the wall.
This is where it gets complicated. Here's what USA Today wrote about the matter:
It isn't realistic to expect consumers with small children to anchor all large chests, in part because many can't do it because they live in rental units or there are other issues with their walls, [CPSC Chairman Elliot] Kaye says. And "plenty of parents don't know about the issue," making it far more important for industry to make what could be very inexpensive design changes, he says.
Unfortunately Kaye doesn't mention what those "very inexpensive design changes" are.
For their part, Ikea says they are "[collaborating] with the CPSC to find solutions for more stable furniture."
"We don't know yet what those solutions will be," says Ikea spokeswoman Mona Liss, "but we are committed to working in collaboration to try to find better solutions."
So: What are your suggestions for solving the problem? I'd love to hear some ideas from both a practical designer's perspective, and some blue-sky ideas as if you were an omnipotent government body that had the power to mandate any type of change you saw fit.
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Thank yo uso much for posting this! It is a very serious issue. It takes only a couple of minutes to anchor your furniture.
As an HGTV designer and a Mom, I believe that a beautiful home is a safe home. So often people are hesitant to anchor items because they are concerned with how they will look aesthetically, but I always say that it’s much easier to put a small hole in your wall than it is to mend a hole in your heart as a result of a tip-over tragedy. I am a spokesperson for the Anchor It! campaign, working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to help educate parents and caregivers about the dangers of furniture and TV tip-over incidents. Together we are urging consumers to take simple, low-cost actions to prevent these tragedies. Simple safety steps include always installing low-cost anchoring devices, keeping heavier items on lower shelves or drawers, ensuring TVs are placed on a low, sturdy base and pushed as far back as possible, and avoiding leaving items in places where kids might be tempted to climb up to reach for them. I included additional safety steps in a recent blog post, which you can read here: http://yaydecor.com/2015/07/14/danger-in-our-homes-and-preventing-it/.
Also, some of the design suggestions to prevent tip-over incidents posted here are interesting and would likely be well received by the furniture industry. I encourage you to share these potentially life-saving ideas with furniture manufacturers and associations representing the furniture industry.
I happen to own that exact chest of draws, so was shocked at the title, its fairly stable without the wall mounted brackets.
In addition, I have won multiple design awards featured here on Core77 for designing cabinets and have studied and invented preventative draw toppling mechanisms.
First I'd like to comment on the USA Today response to: "It's the parent's fault for not anchoring the dresser to the wall." if the land lord is putting your safety at risk by preventing you from securing the necessary furniture to the wall, the land Lord is responsible for the damages.
Secondly there are lots of standards and guidelines for cabinet draws, even legal requirements in some countries.
For low cost draws, the depth and number of drawers is restricted, and the drawer extension limited to 2/3ds,
for larger cabinets or 100% drawer extension it is required that only 1 draw be able to open at a time.
still user error is the biggest cause of cabinets falling over, even with one drawer open at a time you can't stop overweight people sitting on the drawer while they work using it as a chair (real life user case with the costumer requesting a warranty replacement).
At the end of the day the world is not a perfect place, its dangerous for little kids to play on a highway, bath untended if they cant sit up or cross the road, and we can add misuse a cabinet to the list.
It is my view that the cabinet in question is not responsible in any way. Designers do have a responsibility to familiarize them selves with any standards or user design requirements, and in this case there is no negligence having assembled that exact cabinet.
Two bits of suitable length wood hung on hinges attached to the front of the dresser so that, as it falls, they swing out and stop said dresser from falling flat.
Peter, that is a weirdly brilliant idea! I could even see them done without the hinges, so it's like every time you pull the drawer out, two sort-of "table legs" come out with it.
Any chance you'd be willing to sketch up your idea, for inclusion in a new entry?
- Rain
This wouldn't prevent the drawers themselves from sliding out and knocking the kid unconscious, in the best case scenario~
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As an HGTV designer and a Mom, I believe that a beautiful home is a safe home. So often people are hesitant to anchor items because they are concerned with how they will look aesthetically, but I always say that it’s much easier to put a small hole in your wall than it is to mend a hole in your heart as a result of a tip-over tragedy. I am a spokesperson for the Anchor It! campaign, working with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to help educate parents and caregivers about the dangers of furniture and TV tip-over incidents. Together we are urging consumers to take simple, low-cost actions to prevent these tragedies. Simple safety steps include always installing low-cost anchoring devices, keeping heavier items on lower shelves or drawers, ensuring TVs are placed on a low, sturdy base and pushed as far back as possible, and avoiding leaving items in places where kids might be tempted to climb up to reach for them. I included additional safety steps in a recent blog post, which you can read here: http://yaydecor.com/2015/07/14/danger-in-our-homes-and-preventing-it/.
Also, some of the design suggestions to prevent tip-over incidents posted here are interesting and would likely be well received by the furniture industry. I encourage you to share these potentially life-saving ideas with furniture manufacturers and associations representing the furniture industry.
You don't blame the chair when a wrestler smashes it over your back.
One of the reasons that old chest of drawers have lockable top drawers?
I think furniture designers/engineers are going to have to look across the industries and see where other applications can add value. It's not enough to just assume people will install the anti tip anchors. I don't think its an epidemic to your point, but BIFMA standards may have to be modified. Check out the link below.
https://www.nationalofficefurniture.com/NOF_DATA/documents/eBrochures/adve_comm_assembly_lat_fil_drw_removal.pdf
in Belgium there explicit markings in the user manual of these pieces of furniture. Special loops are included in the pack to connect the frame to the wall. In my opinion it is the installer (parents?) responsibility.
I think there will be a million ways to solve this problem but I really like IKEA' approach to this problem. Instead of blaming anyone who is not careful enough when they have a new family member who will not know how to interact the new environment. IKEA steps in to educate and fix your worries, and to make you care about thia little details of design.
The problem is not with the product but with the consumer. Tools, guns, pools, ladders, ropes, silverware, food, cars, streets, cleaning products, drugs, anything that moves, is heavy, is suspended, they can climb, they can open, they can actuate - all inanimate objects incapable of thought or reason.
I disagree, Rain - the responsibility <i>is</i> on the parents, 100%. Not necessarily that they supervise them every waking minute but any strategy is usually multi-faceted and a combination of good installation, teaching them right from wrong, supervision, etc.
Not the design of the product - if you don't think it's safe enough, don't buy it.
Not the manufacturer - it's designed to hold contents, not be used as a climbing structure.
Not the children - they should know better, but someone has to teach them.
Who's left?
In fact, there is a bunch of design-solutions for this problem. Most of them are quite cheap.
Long, flat feet protruding from the front of the case. Now just to solve for the occasional tripping incident...
With every big recall the movie Idiocracy transitions more from silly comedy to documentary.
Self closing drawers. Of course the price tag would be probably 1/3 more but with springs in the right place....
I've anchored all my bookcases just because of this, and I believe my IKEA units came with wall anchors. I think it's unreal to expect manufacturers to carry the blame on this one. As a parent, you have a responsibility to be informed of potential hazards around your house. Knife drawers are kept out of reach, cabinets with solvents closed, windows in high-rises locked, tall bookcases and dressers anchored to wall. I guess furniture makers could make a better job informing consumers, but I'm pretty sure in any IKEA product I have that is tall, it tells you to anchor it to the wall. I don't see that's too high of an expectation for parent.
Huh? The anchoring kits aren't included with purchase of the dresser. They're sold separately, which is why now, IKEA is sending the anchors free of charge to customers.
I have a 2 yr old boy. If we follow this reasoning, then my whole house and everything I own would have to be re-designed. At that age they don't have the concept of getting hurt badly so there is no fear. I have caught him on top of the kitchen table and trying to climb a bookcase I specifically anchored to the wall with heavy duty brackets I bought separately.
I rent. My tall stuff is anchored to my ancient plaster-and-lath walls. What?