On June 28, Ikea put forth what is known as a voluntary recall of millions of items due to a tip-over hazard. In total, this recall affects 29 million products, namely drawers and chests. There are several options available to customers who’ve purchased these items in order to remedy the situation.
Why the Ikea Recall Was Made and What’s Being Recalled
Around 29 million chests and drawers were formally recalled by Ikea due primarily to the fact that three children died within the past two years from accidents involving the chest or drawer tipping over and falling. For these items, Ikea started to provide free wall mounts in 2014 that allow the drawer or chest to be attached firmly to the wall, preventing the tip-over incidents that caused the deaths of two children from occurring. While these mounts were used by many customers, they weren’t mandatory and were unable to be used by some people that lived in apartments.
The reason for this is because many apartments don’t allow holes to be placed in the wall, which is necessary for these mounts. This was the very cause for the third death, which occurred when a Malm chest tipped over and fell onto a nearly two year old boy in February of 2016. The family rented an apartment in Minnesota, and wasn’t allowed to place holes into any wall. The United States CPSC, an organization that focuses on product safety, identified that these three incidents weren’t the only issues caused by the chests and drawers that have been recalled, merely that they were the only three accidents that resulted in death.
The CPSC discovered that dozens of tip-over accidents have occurred over the years. The items that have been recalled primarily include six models of dressers and chests for both children and adults. Each of these models fall under the Malm product line. There are around 100 additional families of chests and dressers by Ikea that could tip-over as well, which has been reported by the CPSC. The recalled Malm dressers and chests include any that have been manufactured between the years of 2002 and 2016. In essence, the products aren’t designed to be freestanding, which is why they can be dangerous when not mounted to a wall.
Currently, safety standards for dressers and chests within the U.S. are simply voluntary, so furniture companies don’t have to abide by these guidelines. However, certain lawmakers are attempting to draft legislation that changes these guidelines from voluntary to permanent. While 29 million of these products are being recalled in the United States, approximately 6.6 million are also being recalled in Canada, which totals over 35 million chests and drawers that Ikea is recalling.
How Ikea Will Sell These Products in the Future
As of June 28, anyone that has a Malm chest or dresser that was manufactured between January 2002 and June 2016 can take part in the recall. Any chest or dresser that was purchased before 2002 can be returned to Ikea for partial store credit as well. There are two options for the Ikea recall. Consumers can request a free wall anchoring kit for their dresser, or can instead choose to opt in for a full refund of the dresser or chest in question. They also suggest that anyone that has one of these items that isn’t mounted to the wall should stop using it immediately or use one of their free wall mounts. Ikea states that all future products of this nature will be sold in accordance with the stability guidelines set by the CPSC.
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