A former paramedic has urged every parent to always anchor furniture to the wall at home — including tenants living in rental properties.
Nikki Jurcutz, who was a paramedic for eight years with Ambulance , has shared an eye-opening video of what could happen when a chest of drawers topples over.
The footage shows a curious toddler girl pulling a drawer out from a dresser to take a look inside.
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Moments later, an adult can be seen opening three drawers at the same time, causing the dresser to dramatically tip over.
Fortunately, the furniture was secured tightly to the wall with a heavy duty strap.
“This could literally save your baby’s life,” the founder of children’s safety organisation said in an post.
“Do I really need to secure my furniture? Yes.”
Children under the age of four are most at risk from toppling furniture.
Adults are at risk, too, not just kids.
According to the ACCC, 28 people, including 17 kids under five, have died in Australia from toppling furniture since 2000.
And each year more than 900 people suffer injuries requiring medical assistance.
“Here are some tips to keep your home safe: Anchor furniture to the wall, ensure furniture is stable and sturdy, keep heavy items on lower shelves and avoid placing TVs or tempting objects on top of furniture,” Jurcutz said.
Large furniture such as chests of drawers, wardrobes, bookshelves and TV units, which are not properly secured, can topple over when young kids attempt to climb on, or pull themselves up on, those heavy items.
If you’re a parent living in a rental, tenants can get permission from the landlord or real estate agent to install a furniture strap, angle brace or anchor to the wall.
“According to Australian rental laws, tenants can request permission from landlords to install safety devices,” Jurcutz said.
“Many landlords are required to consider these requests reasonably, especially for safety improvements.”
The NSW government states a landlord is not permitted to refuse consent for minor changes, which includes securing furniture to a wall for child safety.
Furniture suppliers will be required to provide safety warnings to consumers about the dangers of toppling furniture hazards after Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones introduced new safety standards earlier this month.
“This will help with raising awareness of the dangers of toppling furniture and hopefully prevent any further deaths or injuries,” Jurcutz said.
Her video has been viewed more than 2.6 million times, with many sharing near-death experiences with toppling furniture.
“My little brother climbed my mum’s dresser when he was about three. He definitely would have died or been seriously injured if the very edge of the dresser hadn’t caught on the arm of a couch that was a few feet away. We all learned a very valuable lesson that day,” one shared.
Another said tearfully: “As a kid, a wardrobe fell on me twice.”
Many thanked Jurcutz for sharing the warning to parents.
“I couldn’t agree more — this has given me such peace of mind knowing they can’t pull them over,” one said.
Another shared: “This is why I’ve never put a set of drawers in my daughter’s room! This was one of my biggest fears.”
Some tenants confessed they were worried about their landlord or agent’s disapproval to anchor furniture to walls.
“If you’re in a rental and worried about repercussions, it’s legit under the tenancy law that you’re allowed to alter the house to make it baby safe including gates,” one said.
Another added: “Those concerned about landlords disapproval… It’s literally your child’s life.”
How to pick safer furniture
- Examine the furniture to make sure it is stable
- Pull out any top drawers of a chest of drawers or open doors on other furniture items and apply a little pressure to see how stable the furniture is
- Make sure the drawers don’t fall out easily
- Look for built-in drawer stops that limit how far drawers can be extended, or interlocks that prevent more than one drawer being opened at a time
- Look for furniture with sturdy backing material which increases stability
- Look for low-set furniture, or furniture with a sturdy, stable and broad base. It’s less likely to tip over