You wouldn’t think to bring a baby home from the hospital without a car seat or have your child ride a bike without a helmet. Protecting your children from the potential risk of TV and furniture tip-overs is another important part of keeping them safe. Every week a child dies from a television tipping over. Over the past 10 years, a child visited the emergency room every 45 minutes because of a TV tipping over.
These accidents are often the result of TVs not being properly secured or being placed in unsafe locations. Children five and under are at greatest risk for injuries, accounting for 72 percent of the injuries and 88 percent of hospitalizations. Alarmingly, the frequency of injuries is increasing. There was a 31 percent increase in the number of injuries in children age 19 and under from 2002-2011.
Safety Tips
- Assess the stability of the TVs in your home.
- Mount flat-screen TVs to the wall to prevent them from toppling off stands. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure that you have a secure fit.
- If you have a large, heavy, old-style cathode ray tube (CRT) TV, place it on a low, stable piece of furniture.
- If you no longer use your CRT TV, consider recycling it. To find a location to safely and easily recycle unwanted TVs, go to www.GreenerGadgets.org. Here are some step-by-step tips to help.
- Use brackets, braces or wall straps to secure unstable or top-heavy furniture to the wall.