IKEA stores in the United States are about to get a whole lot busier with the news that the furniture retailer is recalling over 29 million chest of drawers and dressers following the deaths of six children who were crushed by the units falling over.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has said that the MALM units are considered dangerous when not secured to the wall and notes that the warning is applicable to specific children’s Malm chest of drawers over 60cm and adult Malm products over 29.5cm. The recall has come about after the Safety Commission received over 36 reports of children being injured by the units, including six fatalities.
We’re recalling MALM & other chests & dressers in the US. Recalled product types found here: https://t.co/o1Xcy1OCK9 pic.twitter.com/5MnztBNePd
— IKEA USA News (@IKEAUSANews) June 28, 2016
The MALM units are not a new design for IKEA. They have been manufactured and stocked by the flat pack furniture company for over 26 years.
Top Comments
This is idiotic. The instructions for all Malm chests of drawers minus the small bedside drawer are very clear that they need to be anchored to the wall, and everything needed to do that is provided. If people don't do that, that's on them.
I have multiple Malm chests of drawers and I personally didn't bother securing them to the wall as my children are grown and they aren't in spots they'd be a hazard if their was a huge earthquake or something. If I had young children though, they'd be secured to the wall. Kids open drawers and hang off them. Any chest of drawers will topple or break under that strain, so they have to be secured to the wall.
This isn't an issue with Malm, it's an issue with all chests of drawers. IKEA actually does one better than 99% of furniture sellers and includes instructions and materials for securing them to the wall. But, its not a story when it's antique drawes falling, or local furniture store drawers falling. It's a common thing and Malm is by far the most popular set of drawers in the world, so of course there's going to be a lot of incidents with them. But the answer is simple, do what IKEA tells you to do and secure them to the wall. If you can't and you have children or pets, don't buy them.
I wonder if this is because the US is considered to be more litigious than Australia? Hopefully from now on, people will use the wall anchors.