So this is pretty big. Basically everyone on Earth (serious over-exaggeration) has a set of Ikea drawers from the Malm family. They’re simple, clean-looking, and are only mildly frustrating to assemble.
Well, Ikea was issued an ‘unprecedented’ recall of 29M of the low-cost dressers after the related deaths of six children going back to 1989. Several of these deaths had occurred in the past few years. It’s alleged that the drawers constitute a serious tip-over hazard. Ikea is offering refunds for anyone who owns a set.
IKEA has announced a recall of popular chest of drawers, warning they could tip over and kill a small child. #9Today https://t.co/Gq1sQkHlCa
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 28, 2016
Basically, the drawers – thanks to their skewed centre of balance – can very easily tip and fall if even a small child pulls on them.
But the recall doesn’t apply in Australia. Why’s that? An Ikea spokesperson told the Sydney Morning Herald that the recall “is based on the local [American] standard, which is a voluntary standard for the sale of chests of drawers in North America.” So apparently our Malms are fine.
For those Americans who don’t want to give away their set, they are entitled to a free tool which ‘anchors’ the set of drawers to the adjacent wall. This is also available for customers in Australia. If you’re interested, you can look at the full list of affected products HERE.
Source: Ikea / Sydney Morning Herald.
Photo: Getty Images
