IKEA has recalled 29 million chests and dressers after 6 kids died and at least 36 were injured.
The furniture, which is tall and top-heavy, apparently has a tendency to tip over when not anchored to the wall. “Enough is enough,” Elliot Kaye, the chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, told ABC News. “These are inherently very dangerous and unstable products if children are around them.”
#USRecall: 29M MALM & other chests/dressers; deaths reported; serious #TipOver risk. ACT NOW https://t.co/zZrjD8y0KL pic.twitter.com/qnz0dTHKSW
— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) June 28, 2016
IKEA has two options for customers affected by the recall. They can receive a full refund or get a free wall-anchoring repair kit, which can be installed by consumers themselves or with free in-home installation provided by IKEA. Chests or dressers that were manufactured prior to January 2002 are eligible for a partial store credit.
While it’s tragic, it’s also tragically common. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a child dies every two weeks in the United States from furniture or TVs tipping over, and a child is injured every 24 minutes.
One parent, who’s child Jozef was killed by an Ikea dresser, is speaking out against the companies lax safety protocols in this case:
“Sadly, Jozef’s death was completely avoidable, had IKEA adhered to safe design standards. What makes this death more heartbreaking is the fact that last year’s so-called recall was poorly publicized by IKEA and ineffective in getting these defective and unstable dressers out of children’s bedrooms. It’s terrifying that there are millions more of these dressers in homes across the country, which may cause more harm and anguish in the future.”
The CPSC is currently investigating more deaths possibly attributed to the dresser.