In the news and online, there are more and more reports of furniture tip over injuries, where a large piece of furniture or appliance may hit or crush a person as it tips and falls.

Furniture tip over injuries are of particular concern when it’s children at risk for injury by climbing up a dresser or knocking over a TV. Another particularly at-risk group is seniors over age 60.

Still, with furniture as a standard part of life and home, we usually take the required precautions to ensure they’re safe, keep an eye on kids, and push this concern out of mind.

Unfortunately, some furniture and appliances may not be safe even when consumers have taken the proper precautions. Indeed, there may be additional dangers of large furniture and other household items that can be attributed to dangerous manufacture and design.

A report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC) was issued in 2016 over furniture tip over injuries, finding that more than 30,000 persons go to the emergency room each year over these kinds of injuries.

Some furniture tip over injuries may be far more severe. Between 2000 and 2015, almost 500 deaths have been reported due to these incidents. 84 percent of those deaths involved children, and another 12 percent involved seniors 60 and older. Only 3 percent of fatalities involved adults.

Furniture Tip Over Injuries

Large furniture prone to toppling over includes—if they’re not attached to the wall—dressers, cabinets, and bookshelves. While anchoring furniture to the wall would help prevent these risks, some claim that the manufacturers of this furniture should take responsibility and improve their own standards in order to best protect customers.

Furniture commonly involved in these incidents includes tables, chests, dressers, shelving units, and book cases. Furniture tip over injuries can include abrasions, lacerations, internal organ injuries, and broken bones. Fatalities associated with furniture tip over injuries often involved a person being crushed and trapped under the furniture, as well as severe head injuries.

Falling TVs are a surprisingly huge cause of these injuries. It’s a risk that has actually increased since the introduction of flat screen TVs, perhaps because of their inherent top-heaviness. The CPSC reports that falling TVS cause one child every 30 minutes to require a visit to the emergency room, and cause one child’s death every ten days. Injuries from appliances lead to hundreds of thousands of emergency room visits annually, and crib-related injuries cause another 10,000 emergency room visits each year.

Filing a Lawsuit Over Furniture Tip Over Injuries

Lawsuits allege that the manufacturers of the products involved in furniture tip over injuries should be held responsible for defects, poor manufacture and design, and inadequate safety measures.

If you or someone you love has suffered or died from furniture tip over injuries, you may be able to file a lawsuit and receive some sort of compensation. Of course, filing a lawsuit cannot take away the pain and suffering caused by furniture tip over injuries or bring a loved one back to life, but it can help to alleviate the financial burden caused by medical expenses and lost wages.