Premise liability: The dangers of tipping furniture in our homes with children
Premise liability: The dangers of tipping furniture in our homes with children
Our homes should be our castles. We all should be safe in our homes. During these holiday seasons we all hev our children and guests visiting. When it comes to dangers that threaten children,one of the most unimaginable is a piece of furniture toppling and injuring, or even killing, a child.
Yet Thousands of children in recent years have had to go to the er or morgue from such accidents according to data from the U.S.Consumer Producty Safety ommission.
That is prompting CPSC officials, consumer attorneys, furniture and electronics industry executives to explore ways to make dressers,storage cabinets, TVs and other heavy house hold items more stable. They also want to alert parents about thses little known hazards.
Furniture was designed for the convenience of adults, child injury was never considered,” explained Dr. Gary Smith, president of the nonprofit Child Injury Prevention Alliance and a pediatrician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Parents “simply don’t know that they’ve got this danger lurking.”
Even safety-conscious parents mindful of the potential for tall furniture to tumble can be caught by surprise, with tragic consequences.
For instance, J. H., a mother and nurse , secured a tall armoire in her home to keep it from tipping. But she had no inkling that a relatively small item could be a hazard – until 2007, when her 2-year-old son, C, choked to death underneath a 30-inch dresser in his bedroom.
The person taking care of C at the time thought the young child was sleeping, and didn’t hear any loud noise even when the dresser toppled onto him after he apparently climbed on it. “They call it a silent death. Children “are a cushion for the fall of the dresser so you don’t necessarily hear a sound.”
In a similar accident, K. P., a physical therapist , lost her 3-year-old daughter, Meg, in 2004.
“By the time we found her, it was too late,” the mother said, explaining that her husband discovered her underneath a dresser.
In 2010, the most recent year for which federal estimates are available, unstable furniture sent about 23,600 people – the highest number since 2006 – to emergency rooms. Most of the injured were less than 10 years old.
Another estimated 20,000 people in 2010 were hurt by TVs, which experts say are often precariously placed on furniture not designed to support the sets.
The injuries include serious bruising, internal organ injuries and fractures. And from 2000 through 2010, the CPSC received reports of close to 300 deaths, mostly involving children who were crushed, in such accidents.
The nonprofit Child Injury Prevention Alliance said it’s a mistake to blame parents for the accidents. Instead, he said, businesses, consumers and government should work together and tackle it as a public health problem.“This is something we need to focus on and do it quickly,” he said.
In the absence of tougher rules, child safety centers have sprouted around the country at hospitals and elsewhere that work to educate the public about the hazards.
Lets all try to be more aware this holiday season.
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Keith J. Stone also handles cases originating elsewhere in California and across the USA.