Preventing Tip Over Injuries
Brian O Sutter
Personal Injury
Furniture tip overs are an underestimated household hazard. Unfortunately, furniture tip overs can cause serious injury or even death. Every year around 13,000 injuries a year and 150 fatalities are caused by furniture tip overs. So it is important to take some safety precautions to prevent tip overs so you can protect your family from unnecessary danger. Here are some important tips on preventing furniture tip overs:
What Are Furniture Tip Overs
Furniture tip overs are when furniture, including appliances, tip over from their weight. They can happen randomly when a piece of furniture is not properly secured and are top heavy. The furniture can then falls over. Tip overs can also happen as the result of climbing or moving furniture. Furniture is really heavy and if it falls onto a person it can cause fractures, sprains, and even suffocation. Furniture tip overs are especially dangerous for small children who can be crushed under the heavy weight.Safety Tips For Preventing Injury From Furniture Tip Overs
The best thing to do you can do to prevent furniture tip overs is to make sure all your furniture is safely secured and anchored. Here are some other important tips to prevent furniture tip overs:- Buy sturdy furniture that will not buckle under the weight of the objects placed upon it. It may be tempting to buy cheap furniture to save money but sturdy furniture is less likely to break or tip over.
- Follow assembly instructions carefully. If furniture is not properly assembled it’s more likely to buckle, break, or fall. Also if the instructions recommend anchoring the furniture to the wall, follow those instructions carefully as well.
- Top heavy furniture like bookcases, dressers, display cases, or anything tall should always be secured to the wall with anti-tip brackets. Most new furniture comes with anti-tip brackets, but you can also purchase them at hardware stores.
- Secure your television to the wall. Whether your television is wall mounted or on a television stand, make sure your television is always secured to the wall to prevent tip overs. Televisions should also only be places on furniture designed to hold the weight of a television so it doesn’t buckle causing the television to fall over.
- Keep objects within reach. If you have items you use everyday keep them on lower shelves. Only use higher shelves to store objects you will not need to access routinely. This lower your chances of causing a tip over from climbing or pulling things from the top shelf.
- Do not store tempting items like toys, candies, or even tv remotes in high locations. Children will want to climb to reach these things and can fall or cause a tip over.
- Never move furniture by yourself. The furniture may be too heavy and can fall on you. Also if you do have a tip over accident, you need someone there to help you.