Prevent your furniture from tipping over

Children are curious and creative. Exploring their environment is an important part of learning and growing. Their curiosity knows no limits. The furniture in your home may seem harmless to you, but it’s surprising how many dangerous places and objects children can discover. When children play in the house, it’s very natural for them to want to reach, climb and pull themselves up onto furniture to explore. They often use dressers and shelves as climbing toys to reach something they want. However, despite the low weight of children, such furniture is often unstable and can easily topple. Furniture, appliances and televisions can easily tip-over and cause serious injuries or even death to children. Furniture tip-over accidents mostly affect children, but also adults can be seriously injured. The most effective way to prevent this is to secure all furniture, appliances and televisions that has a risk of tipover to a wall.

What does the term furniture tip-over mean?

Furniture tip-over is a term referring to accidents in which furniture topples over onto a person and causes injury or even death.

Who do tip-over affect?

Most of anti-tip over accidents happen with young children. Children are extra vulnerable, because they’re not aware of danger. When furniture is tipping over, they’re not fast enough to react and avoid. Also, when furniture falls on top them, they’re not strong enough to lift the furniture off themselves. The leading victims of such accidents are children, but this can also happen to adults and be equally dangerous for them.

Where do tip-over accidents occur?

Tip-over accidents can occur in all places in the house. However, the most common areas for anti-tip over accidents are bedrooms, nurseries, living rooms and kitchens

Does heavy furniture also need anchoring?

It doesn’t matter how heavy the furniture is, all furniture can tip over. When children climb or hang on doors or chest of drawers the center of gravity shifts outside the base of furniture and they tip over and can fall on top of them. The heavier the furniture the more serious accidents it can cause.

Does furniture in a room where the kids don’t play also need anchoring?

Accidents can happen easily and very quickly. Children are very curious, and they may wander in rooms you won’t expect. In order to minimize the risk of furniture tip-over it is therefore important to also anchor furniture in rooms where you don’t expect your children to be very often.

Does latched drawers and doors replace furniture anchors?

Cabinet latches are designed to prevent access to drawers and not to prevent them from tipping over. They do not replace furniture anchors. A child climbing or hanging on chest of drawers and doors can make the cabinet still tip over. Latches do not eliminate the risk of tip over.

Do I need furniture anchoring for older children as well?

Children do not always remember their safety lessons when they’re playing. When a child wants something exciting on top of a furniture, they just climb to reach it. They don’t consider cabinets as something that can harm them. Just because they’re older doesn’t mean they’re safe. Children can cause danger for themselves in accidents with anti-tip over

Does furniture of well-known furniture-company also require anchoring?

Any well-known furniture is expected to live up to safety standards, but regardless of quality or how well-known a company is, the force of gravity applies to everything on earth. All furniture can tipover when the center of gravity shifts to outside of the furniture.

Does low chest of drawers also require anchoring?

Low furniture can tip-over too. When several drawers are open at the same time – especially when its heavily filled – the center of gravity shifts outside of the base of chest of drawers and tips over. The same effect is achieved when a child climb on it. Therefore, also low furniture needs to be secured to a wall.

The tip-over accident risk seems very small, do I still have to care?

Furniture tip-over accidents are more common than they might seem. Most people don’t know about the danger of furniture tip-over, because such accidents are hardly reported on the news. However, furniture tip-overs accounts more injuries and even deaths than expected. There is no reason to risk family’s safety when such accidents can easily be prevented by anchoring furniture, appliances and televisions to walls.