More measures to protect consumers from deaths and injuries related to tip-overs associated with dressers, wardrobes, closets, and other clothing storage units have been approved by the National Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after voting in favor of the voluntary ASTM F2057-23 standard as a mandatory safety standard, which has the direct consequence of protecting young children from injuries and death due to incidents with tipped furniture.
According to an official statement, "Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth" (STURDY) became law, the CPSC examined and evaluated the effectiveness of the voluntary ASTM F2057-23 standard as required by law and determined that the standard meets STURDY's requirements.
"The CPSC had previously approved a safety standard to address the risk of tipping over of clothing storage units, which would take effect on May 24, 2023, but now will be replaced by the new mandatory standard."
As required by STURDY, the mandatory standard involves stability tests when the unit is placed on carpets, stability tests with loaded drawers and with multiple drawers open, and tests that simulate the weight of children up to 60 pounds interacting with the unit, thus protecting children up to 72 months old.
"We acted quickly to analyze the ASTM standard, make a determination, and issue a final rule that will require manufacturers to work on safer clothing storage units 120 days after publication in the Federal Register," said Alex Hoehn-Saric, CPSC chairman.
"This new CPSC rule supported by STURDY will significantly reduce tip-over-related deaths and injuries and provide peace of mind to families across the country." CPSC staff is aware of 234 deaths resulting from clothing storage unit tip-overs from January 2000 to April 2022, including 199 children's deaths.
MORE THAN 80,000 ANNUAL CASES
The CPSC estimates that there were 84,100 tip-over-related injuries (an estimated annual average of 5,300 injuries) with clothing storage units that were treated in the country's hospital emergency departments from 2006 to 2021. The CPSC recommends that consumers securely anchor furniture, including dressers, to the wall.
The CPSC provides more information on furniture and TV anchoring at https://www.anchorit.gov/.
