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IKEA Issues Corrective Action On 27 Million Chests After Two Children Die

By Lindsay McCane
Published on: 01:30 PST, Jul 23, 2015

IKEA has issued a corrective action on 27 million chests after they were linked to the deaths of two children.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced on Wednesday, July 22, that there were issues with the chests and dressers that are included in IKEA’s MALM Collection.

According to the news release, IKEA received notification of two deaths, which occurred during separate incidents, involving the MALM chests falling over on top of two children. The children’s deaths prompted the furniture icon to issue the corrective action immediately. They have also noted that all customers should stop using kids chests that are taller than 23.5 inches and adult chests and dressers taller than 29.5 inches, unless they are securely mounted to the walls.

The first death reported happened in February, 2014, after a MALM six-drawer chest (48.38 inches high) fell over and pinned a two-year-old boy from West Chester, Pennsylvania, against his bed, essentially crushing him to death. Later, in June, 2014, a 23-month old child from Snohomish, Washington, suffered a similar situation when a three-drawer (30.75 inches high) MALM chest tipped over and trapped the child beneath it.

IKEA and the CPSC have said that both of these deaths could have been prevented if the chests had been secured to the wall. Therefore, the company is offering free wall anchoring kits for the affected products. This includes all MALM chests, IKEA children’s chests, and dressers that are taller than 23.5 inches, and IKEA adult chests and dressers that are taller than 29.5 inches.

CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye called on the entire furniture industry to make it a priority to create more stable furniture.

“Today is a positive step, and I commend [IKEA] for taking that step,” Kaye said, according to USA Today. “But they need to do more and to make more stable furniture and they need to help lead industry.”

“[IKEA will] continue to collaborate with the CPSC to find solutions for more stable furniture,” Monda Liss, IKEA’s spokeswoman, said. “We don’t know yet what those solutions will be, but we are committed to working in collaboration to try to find better solutions.”

IKEA started selling the MALM chests in 2002, and their price ranges from $200 to $800. If you have purchased one of these products, you can receive your free wall anchoring kit by visiting an IKEA store, going to www.IKEA-USA.com/saferhomestogether, or calling (888) 966-4532.

[Photo by Volodymyr Kyrylyuk / Shutterstock]

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