By Herb Weisbaum
Audio : KOMO 1000 NEWS
There are plenty of things around the house that can hurt your kids, but how about the furniture?


SEATTLE – There are plenty of things around the house that can hurt your kids – hot things, sharp things, poisonous things. But how about the furniture?

“Any object that’s big enough to be pulled over is potentially dangerous,” warns Dr. Tony Woodward, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center. He’s personally seen two children who were killed by falling furniture.

Each year 8,000 to 10,000 thousand kids are seriously injured when a TV, bookcase or dresser falls on them.

The problem is serious enough that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a nationwide warning today.

“We’re aware of 10 deaths this year involving young children and TV tip-overs,” says Nancy Nord, Acting Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. “That’s twice the number that we would typically expert to see in any given year.”

You’d think that bigger TVs would be causing most of the problems. But a recent study found most of the accidents involved sets with 20 to 30 inch screens.

There are things you can do to prevent tip-over accidents:

• Secure bookcases and dressers to the wall. That way if little ones decide to climb on them, them won’t come tumbling down.

• TV’s should be as far back as possible on a low, sturdy stand. Today’s sets are front-heavy, making them easier to tip over. They can also be anchored to the wall.

• Hide on cords and cables, so no one trips on them, pulling down the TV.

• Never keep things on top of the TV or dresser that a toddler might want to have.

Just today Pier 1 recalled thousands of TV stands because of a tipping hazard.