Stove Tipping Dangers
The oven, stove, or range is one of the most common household items and it is also one of the most dangerous items in the kitchen. Due to defective designs ovens have injured many people(mostly children) by tipping over. Hundreds of children have been burned or crushed by our stoves according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. A small amount of pressure put on an open oven door, as from a climbing child, may result in enough leverage for a stove to pitch forward. There is still an estimated 45 million homes that have stoves without an anti-tip device. Some of those being entire apartment complex communities. Silverthorne Attorneys wants to put an end to this epidemic of people getting injured or killed by this common item. If you or someone you know has been injured by a defective oven, stove, or range, give us a call.
Manufacturers began using lighter, cheaper steel in their stoves in the 1980s. However, this allowed the stoves to tip over when too much weight was applied to the oven door. The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the American Standards Institute (ANSI) developed voluntary safety standards in 1991 that require the installation of metal brackets to stabilize the stove. Because the safety standard is voluntary, this is not often done, according to the consumer organization, Public Citizen (Press Release, April 5, 2007). The group points to internal documents from Sears that show that the anti–tipping brackets were installed in only about 2–5% of cases. The group also charged that the CPSC knew about the tipping hazard since 1984, but failed to warn consumers or to require that the stoves be redesigned.
Common Household Item Tipping Statistics
Between 2000 and 2008, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission staff received reports of nearly 200 tipover related deaths involving children eight years old and younger. Nearly all of these fatalities (93%) involved children five years old and younger. More than 16,000 children five years old and younger were treated in emergency rooms because of injuries associated with TVs, furniture, and appliance tipovers according to CPSC staff’s most recent estimates from 2006. About 70 percent of children’s fatalities involved falling TVs, and 27 percent involved furniture falling. The majority of fatalities where furniture fell by itself or fell along with a TV involved a chest, dresser, or a bureau. Often, these pieces of furniture have drawers that children can use to climb.
Tipping Safety Precautions
- Anchor furniture to the wall or the floor
- Place TVs on sturdy, low bases
- Or, anchor the furniture and the TV on top of it, and push the TV as far back on top of the furniture as possible
- Keep remote controls, toys, and other items that might be attractive to children off TV stands or furniture.
- Keep TV and/or cable cords out of reach of children
- Make sure freestanding kitchen ranges and stoves are installed with anti-tip brackets
- Supervise children in rooms where these safety tips have not been followed
Contact a Defective Stove Injury Attorney in Orange County
If you or a child was injured due to a tipping or explosion accident involving a defective stove, contact a product liability lawyer in Orange county at Silverthorne Attorneys today to discuss the details of your product liability case.