Why the STURDY Act is Necessary: A Look at the Statistics of Furniture Tip-Over Tragedies

• In the past two decades, hundreds of young children have died, and thousands have been injured from falling furniture or televisions.
• The majority of fatalities caused by tip-overs occur in children under 6 years old.
• Prior to the STURDY Act, the only safety regulations for furniture sold in the United States were voluntary standards set by ASTM International. Consumer safety advocates have argued that these standards were inadequate and criticised them for being voluntary.

What the STURDY Act Does: Mandatory Safety Standards and Testing Requirements

• The STURDY Act, which was proposed by Senator Bob Casey and Representative Jan Schakowsky, both from the Democratic Party, mandates the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety regulations for all dressers and similar products that are manufactured or sold in the United States.
• Dressers will now have to be tested in conditions that more accurately reflect real-world use, such as resting on carpets, containing the weight of clothes, and with drawers open.
• The Act also mandates strong warning labels to alert consumers of the potential dangers of tip-overs.

The STURDY Act is a new legislation passed by Congress that aims to prevent child deaths from falling furniture. The STURDY Act, which was included in a large spending bill of $1.7 trillion and 4000 pages, passed just before the deadline to avoid a government shutdown. This act comes after years of investigative reporting by Consumer Reports and advocacy from parents’ groups.

This is a hard-fought victory for parent advocates who have transformed their grief into action and successfully urged Congress to ensure that no other family would have to suffer the preventable loss of a child. The American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA), a trade group representing numerous manufacturers and importers of furniture in the United States, has supported the STURDY Act, stating that it will provide a clear pathway for manufacturers to comply with the new regulations. According to the group’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Bill Perdue, the STURDY Act was modified as a result of cooperation between various parties, including industry representatives, parent groups, and consumer advocates, to address factors that lead to furniture tip-overs in real-life situations.

AHFA Calls for Furniture Industry to Protest CPSC Tip-Over Rule

• The American Home Furnishings Alliance is urging members of the furniture industry to contact their congressional members and protest against the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) new furniture stability rule.
• AHFA has written a letter to be sent to Congress, criticizing the CPSC for creating a complex and unenforceable standard and failing to perform a cost-benefit analysis.
• The Alliance believes the rule would result in increased costs, job losses, increased weight of furniture, misleading stability ratings, and decreased access to safe furniture.
• Lower-cost models will be particularly affected, and the Alliance believes this could result in more consumers turning to used or second-hand models.
• The AHFA is calling for the CPSC to adopt the impending ASTM voluntary standard as directed by the STURDY Act passed by Congress.

A new era of safety: The STURDY Act and mandatory standards for dressers

The STURDY Act is a significant step forward in ensuring the safety of families and children from the dangers of tip-over accidents. The legislation will require dressers to be tested in conditions that more accurately reflect real-world use, such as resting on carpets, containing the weight of clothes, and with drawers open. This will ensure that dressers can withstand the weight and pressure of everyday use, reducing the risk of tip-over accidents.

Furthermore, the STURDY Act will also require manufacturers to include warning labels on dressers, alerting consumers to the potential risks of tip-overs and providing information on how to secure furniture to the wall properly. This will help to raise awareness of the issue and educate consumers on how to keep their families safe.

GBSL’s Insight on STURDY Act

In conclusion, the passage of the STURDY Act is a huge milestone forward in ensuring the safety of families and children from tip-over tragedies caused by falling furniture. As an advocate for consumer safety, Global Base Sourcing Limited (GBSL) fully supports this new legislation as it will set mandatory safety standards for all dressers and similar products made or sold in the U.S. The STURDY Act will provide manufacturers with a clear pathway to compliance and will, strengthen testing requirements, and mandate strong warning labels.

GBSL is committed to sourcing indoor and outdoor furniture that meets the highest safety standards and will continue to support the STURDY Act and similar safety initiatives. This hard-fought victory is a testament to the tireless efforts of parent advocates, industry, and consumer advocates working together to prevent any more preventable child loss.

We believe that this is not only the right thing to do for our customers, but it is also our responsibility as a responsible business. We are proud to be a part of the effort to make furniture tip-over tragedies a thing of the past.