Ikea safety alert af ter two boys are crushed by drawers
WATCHDOGS yesterday issued a safety alert after two young children were crushed to death by Ikea drawer units that toppled over.
The Swedish furniture giant includes brackets in its self-build furniture packs so customers can fix them to walls, but it appears that millions put youngsters at risk by failing to install them.
The safety alert about chests of drawers and dressers was issued by the American Consumer Product Safety Commission, but the British office of Ikea has put out its own warning to customers.
It comes after two-year-old Curren Collas died when a six-drawer Malm dresser fell on him and pinned him to a bed at his family’s home in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Since his death in February last year his mother Jackie has campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness of the dangers of falling furniture.
She explained what happened on a campaigning page set up on Facebook. ‘I started screaming,’ she said. ‘ His head was trapped between the edge of the bed and all of the weight of the dresser was laying across his neck.
‘I tried ripping the dresser off him. It took me a couple of tries to pick it up. I tried to pick him up like I normally do, but his little body and neck was so floppy.’ Three months later, a 23-month-old boy from Snohomish, in Washington state, was killed when a three-drawer chest crushed him.
There have been 14 other reports of tip- over accidents involving Malm chests in the US, resulting in four injuries. But the problem is not confined to Malm, and relates to any tall wall unit sold by Ikea and other retailers.
A spokesman for the American watchdog said the Ikea products ‘are unstable when built and used without a wall anchoring device’. It said consumers should not use children’s chests and dressers taller than 23 inches and adult chests of drawers and dressers taller than 29 inches unless they are securely anchored to the wall.
The watchdog said the furniture is not being recalled, but rather Ikea is being told it must give advice and fixing brackets to customers.
Ikea has responded by offering free kits to customers to secure chests and dressers to the wall.
The British office of Ikea confirmed that customers in this country will be able to get the free kits. Ikea said it has sold around 20million chests of drawers and dressers in the UK since 2002, most of which will have needed to be fixed to the wall to prevent them toppling over.
But it is impossible to know how many customers have used the wall brackets that it supplied with all such furniture.
As a result, it launched the ‘Safer Homes Together – Secure It!’ campaign earlier this year in the UK and Ireland to stress the need to use these brackets.
Gerard Bos, Ikea’s UK and Ireland customer relations manager, said: ‘Product safety and quality are top priorities for Ikea.
‘Furniture tip- over is a serious safety risk in the home, however Ikea chests of drawers and dressers are safe to use when assembled according to the instructions and attached to the wall using the restraints provided.
‘Ikea urges customers to inspect their chests of drawers and dressers to ensure that they are securely anchored to the wall.’
Malm chests come in a variety of sizes with a three-drawer unit costing £50 and a six-drawer unit £79.
Ikea said any customer who has thrown away their fixing bracket can contact the company for a free replacement on 020 3645 0010.