Furniture tip-over kills and injures children every year, and the scenario is consistent enough to be prevented.
What Happens
A child opens the lower drawers of a chest, which both provides a ladder and moves the centre of gravity forward.
They climb, the unit tips, and it falls on them. It happens in seconds and it happens silently.
Televisions on chests of drawers add weight at the top and are a substantial part of the recorded injuries.
What Anchoring Requires
- Both straps or brackets, not one
- Fixed into a timber stud or masonry
- Or a fixing designed for cavity walls, rated for the load
- A plastic plug in plasterboard holds almost nothing
- Because there is nothing solid for it to expand against
- Checked periodically, since fixings loosen
Anchoring hardware is frequently supplied in the box, of the kind described in assembly guidance at https://fdw.us.com/, and it is the part most often left in the packaging.
Dot-and-Dab Walls
The specific case worth knowing. Many plasterboard walls are stuck to blockwork with adhesive dabs, leaving a void behind the board.
A short fixing lands in that void and holds nothing. A longer fixing reaching the blockwork behind is what actually works.
If you are unsure what a wall is made of, a longer fixing into something solid is the safe assumption.
What Else to Anchor
Anything tall and narrow: bookcases, chests, wardrobes, shelving units, and anything a television stands on.
In rented properties, most landlords will agree to a small fixing for a stated safety reason, and two filled holes cost almost nothing.
Low and Wide Is Safer
Where a piece can be chosen rather than inherited.
Nothing Climbable Near Windows
Falls from windows are the other recorded scenario.
Do It on Assembly Day
Not later, which does not come.
Anchor Before Loading
An empty unit is easy to move and easy to fix.
Check Fixings Annually
They loosen, and a loose anchor is no anchor.
No Televisions on Chests
Which is a substantial share of recorded injuries.
Teach the Rule Anyway
Equipment does not replace supervision.
Drawer Stops Help
Fittings that prevent more than one drawer opening at once remove the ladder entirely.