TV Safety: Preventing TV-Related Accidents in Every Room of the House

Oct 15, 2018

Babies crawl. Toddlers explore. Older kids and pets run around and play in the house. Who would think these innocent acts could turn dangerous in seconds? But it happens with frightening frequency. The cause is furniture and TV tip-over accidents, and the numbers are shocking:

  • Every three weeks a child dies from a television tipping over.*
  • Ten children go to the ER every day because of a TV tip-over.*
  • Over ⅔ of tip-over fatalities involve children under the age of 5*

The light at the end of the tunnel: these tragedies are 100% completely preventable. All you need is a plan to keep your TVs secure and childproof your home before your baby takes thier firt steps. Use this step-by-step checklist to secure your home against TV tip-overs.

Step 1: Look Around Your Living Room

This is where most families put their primary TV. Yours is probably sitting on a piece of furniture, or it’s housed inside a shelving unit or entertainment center. That’s an accident waiting to happen, and not only if you have an older, tube style TV. The new thin TVs are much lighter, but they are much more likely to tip-over, and it only takes a second. 

Little ones love to pull, push, and climb. And furniture doors and drawers provide easy, inviting access. The taller the furniture, the greater the risk of tip-overs, and if there’s a TV sitting on top, the risk of injury or death is even higher. But kids can quickly pull a TV off a low surface, too.

Then there are all those cords and cables. They may be stashed out of sight behind furniture, but a crawling child or curious pet can find them in a heartbeat. One pull, or even an accidental tangle, and your TV could come tumbling down.

You can prevent this. Take action, by:

  • Securing furniture to the wall, using anti-tip straps or other products specifically designed for this. They even make a tv safety strap specifically for securing it to the wall. 
  • You could secure your TV to the furniture or the wall, but mounting your TV on the wall is the safest option. It also preserves (or improves) your viewing quality and flexibility. SANUS makes several types of TV wall mounts that are strong, quality tested and easy to install.
  • Hide the cords and cables, out of reach as well as out of sight.

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Step 2: 51% of TV Tip-Overs Happen in the Bedroom

Bedrooms usually recieve the TV with older technologies that were once in the living room. Chances are these TVs are heavier, and people are likely to place them on top of a dresser...which is the most dangerous location. A TV can fall with the force of thousands of pounds. That is 10 times more powerful than being hit by a NFL lineman.

Get those TVs off your bedroom furniture and onto the wall, where they will be safe and secure. 

Step 3: Safety First in Every Room

These days, busy families often place TVs in other rooms. Use the same rules in any room. If you have a TV in the kitchen, your home office, even the bathroom or garage, secure it as you did in your living room and bedrooms. Also think of other places where your child spends time and spread the word: childcare providers, grandparents and other family's households.

Having a baby and growing children will give you plenty to worry about. But if your TVs are mounted to the wall, you can check tip-overs off your list of potential concerns. What a relief!

*Based on estimates from CPSC and NEISS data for 2000-20016