Customers can either get a refund or benefit from a free wall-anchoring kit.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), IKEA has recalled almost 36 million dressers and chests in Canada and in the United States since they have been linked to the deaths of 6 children.
As per the Commission’s statement, the recall is due to the fact that unless these furniture are secured to the wall they are likely to topple over and thus pose a threat to the lives of children.
IKEA’s recall covers six models of its dressers and MALM chests manufactured between the periods of 2002 to 2016. The recall also covers nearly 100 other families of dressers and chests.
“It is simply too dangerous to have the recalled furniture in your home unanchored, especially if you have young children,” said Elliott Kaye, CPSC’s Chairman in a statement.
He went on to add that tipped over television sets and furniture have killed a U.S. child every two weeks.
Case in point: in 2014, two toddlers died in two separate incidents when MALM chests toppled over and fell over them. In a similar incident, which occurred last year, a 22 month toddler died in the same manner. The incident triggered a repair program by IKEA which includes a free wall-anchoring kit.
In both events, none of the furniture were anchored to the wall.
These two fatalities are not isolated events: for the period of 1989 to 2007, IKEA has received reports of 41 tip-over incidents which involve non-MALM chests, which caused the deaths of three children and 19 injuries.
As part of the current recall process, IKEA will provide refunds or a free wall-anchoring kit.
In the United States, IKEA’s recall covers nearly 21 million dressers and chest and 8 million MALM dressers and chests while in Canada, the recall covers 6.6 million dressers and chests.
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