Congress Passes STURDY Act to Prevent Furniture Tip-over Deaths

For Immediate Release
December 23, 2022

Contact:
Nancy Cowles, KID; (312) 218-5593; nancy@kidsindanger.org

Washington, DC – Today, Congress passed The Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act, which was included in the omnibus bill. KID applauds Congress for passing the bill which will help prevent dresser tip-overs, and urges President Biden to immediately sign the bill into law. We thank Representative Schakowsky and Senators Casey, Klobuchar, and Blumenthal for their leadership to get the bill passed through Congress.

A Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) report from earlier this year showed that on average 22,500 hospital emergency visits are attributed to tip-overs per year (2018-2020), of which 44% were children. According to the report, there were 472 child tip-over fatalities since 2000, accounting for 81% of all tip-over fatalities. The STURDY Act aims to prevent these incidents by requiring a strong standard to assure the stability of clothing storage units. The CPSC voted to pass a strong rule to prevent tip-overs in October, and The STURDY Act is another pathway that will lead to fewer deaths and injuries due to dresser tip-overs.

“After almost two decades of advocacy, it’s high time that Congress and the CPSC have both taken action this year to protect our children from dresser tip-overs,” said Nancy Cowles, executive director of Kids In Danger (KID). “The current voluntary standard was not strong enough to prevent tip-overs, and we thank the hard work of parent-advocates for getting this bill across the finish line.”

For the past several years, KID has been working with Parents Against Tipovers (PAT, recipient of KID’s 2022 Best Friend Award) and other groups to pass this important legislation.

“On behalf of the hundreds of families affected by tip over tragedies, we are thrilled with the long overdue passage of STURDY,” said Brett Horn, Chairman of Parents Against Tipovers. “This life saving bill is the culmination of decades of passionate work to ensure that furniture is made in a more stable and responsible manner, which will prevent tip-over accidents from killing or injuring other children.

“We applaud Congress for including the STURDY Act in the Omnibus Spending bill,” said Susan Weinstock, CEO of Consumer Federation of America. “STURDY is literally a lifesaving bill – making furniture more stable to protect children by ensuring that clothing storage furniture is manufactured to resist tipping over under real-world use and requiring the CPSC to create a minimum furniture stability standard. This is a wonderful holiday gift to families across the country – knowing that new rules that guard against furniture tip-overs will keep children safe.”

KID encourages consumers to anchor their furniture to prevent tip-overs, especially during this holiday season when families may have grandchildren, nieces or nephews visiting. Learn how to anchor furniture and TVs at the CPSC’s Anchorit.gov site.

Horn added, “The STURDY Act is a HUGE step in the right direction, however, there is no substitute for anchoring your furniture to the wall.  PAT encourages all consumers, in particular those who have small children in the home, to always anchor your furniture.  A simple reminder to parents… “you can replace a hole in the wall, but you can’t replace a hole in your heart.””

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Founded in 1998, Kids In Danger (KID) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by fighting for product safety.