Approximately a year ago, IKEA was involved in a massive product recall as a result of millions of chests and dressers not having adequate “anchoring.” The anchoring is used to secure the furniture to a wall and deter it from toppling over. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stated that unanchored or improperly anchored chests and dressers posed a large risk to  young children. IKEA’s recalled furniture was even linked to the deaths of six children and other non-fatal injuries. Recently, South Shore Furniture and Homestar North America have collectively recalled nearly 70,000 chests due to issues with anchoring the furniture to walls. The CPSC is again reporting that these recalled chests are likely to pose a serious risk to young children, resulting in injury or death.

South Shore Furniture’s recall involves roughly 68,300 “Summer Breeze Style” 5-drawer chests sold on Amazon.com, Walmart.com, and Wayfair.com for roughly $160. The CPSC attributes the recall to a serious tip-over and entrapment hazard. Like IKEA’s recall, these chests are unstable if not securely anchored to a wall. The CPSC determined that South Shore’s chests do not meet the performance requirements of the U.S. Voluntary Industry Standards. Specifically, consumers need to be on the lookout for the “royal cherry,” “blueberry,” “chocolate,” and “white” colored chests, as these are the models being recalled. These chests are by no means light and weigh in at 88 pounds. Per the CPSC, owners of these chests should immediately stop all use and relocate it to an area inaccessible to children.

On a smaller scale, Homestar North America has recalled approximately 1,470 “Stockholm three-drawer TV chests.” These chests also present the same risks as South Shore’s and do not comply with the performance requirements of the U.S. Voluntary Industry Standards.  However, Homestar’s chests were sold exclusively on Target.com.

The recalled chests manufactured by South Shore include: 3746035A, 3294035A, 3210035A, and 3219035A. For Homestar North America, recalled chests include the model numbers: 249-09-2740, 249-09-0041, 249-09-2739, or 249-09-3429; the model number is located on the back panel of each unit. Both companies are offering to remedy the recall via refunds and free, one-time in-home installations of the anchoring kits.

Fortunately, these products have no reported incidents or injuries to date. However, as we have seen with IKEA, furniture which is prone to tipping without a proper wall anchor is certainly capable of tragedy. If you or a loved one have been injured as a result of furniture tipping over, call the offices of Heintz Law at (941) 748-2916 or visit online.

Written by Tanner Heintz