On average, an American child will spend 28 hours a week watching television, and according to the American Psychiatric Association, he or she will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence by the age of 18.
As worrisome as that is, the biggest cause for concern may well be the actual television set itself.
Unstable and unsecured television sets – as well as large pieces of furniture – kill a child every two weeks. And every 24 minutes, a child goes to the emergency room because of a tip over incident involving a television or furniture.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says that 38,000 Americans go to emergency rooms each year with injuries related to tip-overs of top-heavy furniture or televisions placed on furniture, instead of a TV stand. Two-thirds of those injuries involved children younger than 5. Additionally, between 2000 and 2013, 84 percent of the 430 deaths reported to CPSC involved children younger than 10.
Too frequently, children climbing up unanchored furniture and appliances turns tragic when they are crushed or trapped under the weight of the products that topple over. A TV falling from an average sized dresser can strike a child with the force of thousand pounds, and according to the CPSC the impact can be like being caught between two NFL linemen colliding at full speed — 10 times.
The average American home today has s 2.93 television sets per household. Over the past decade with the invention of LCDs LED televisions, the weight of television has been reduced by 82 percent, and the volume of size for the same size picture has been reduced by 75 percent. However, the older cathode ray tube televisions of yesterday still sit in many homes throughout America. Because these older televisions are much bigger and bulkier they can weigh in excess of 200 pounds, making the furniture they sit on extremely top heavy.
To drive home this message, the CPSC recently launched an “Anchor It” national education campaign with public service announcements, billboards and print information. They also created a website – www.AnchorIt.gov – to help prevent furniture and TV tip-overs from killing and seriously injuring children.
NBC’s Today featured a related segment just yesterday, reporting that furniture company IKEA is offering free wall anchoring kids for some of its tip-over prone furniture.
Here are some of the tips recommended by the CPSC:
‣ Buy and install low-cost anchoring devices to prevent TVs, dressers, bookcases or other furniture from tipping.
‣ Follow the TV manufacturer’s instructions on how to anchor your TV to the wall and have a secure fit.
‣ Avoid leaving items, such as remote controls and toys, in places where kids might be tempted to climb up to reach for them.
‣ Place TVs on a sturdy, low base and push them as far back as possible, particularly if anchoring is not possible.
‣ Store attached DVDs and VCRs on a lower and secured shelf to avoid enticing a child to climb up to change out a disc or tape.
‣ If purchasing a new TV, consider recycling older ones not currently used. If moving the older TV to another room, be sure it is anchored properly to the wall.
‣ If you have a heavier, box-style cathode ray tube TV place it on a low, stable piece of furniture that is appropriate for the television’s size and weight.
‣ Anchor appliances to the floor.
‣ Install stops on dresser drawers to prevent them from being pulled all the way out; multiple open drawers can cause the weight to shift, making it easier for a dresser to fall
‣ Rearrange household items by keeping heavier items on lower shelves or in lower drawers.
Be safe, my friends.
Keven Moore works in risk management services. He has a bachelor’s degree from University of Kentucky, a master’s from Eastern Kentucky University and 25-plus years of experience in the safety and insurance profession. He lives in Lexington with his family and works out of both the Lexington and Northern Kentucky offices. Keven can be reached at kmoore@roeding.com.