IKEA U.S. Applauds Passage of the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act

The STURDY Act is an important legislative act that will ultimately help create a safer life at home for families in the United States.

IKEA U.S. celebrates the passage of the Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act, which was passed by the United States Congress. The bill is an important legislative act that represents a major step forward in protecting the health and safety of children and creating a safer life at home for families throughout the country.  

“Furniture tip-over is a serious home safety issue. We applaud Congress for passing the STURDY Act, a vital step forward in addressing the risk of furniture tip-over and creating a safer life at home for children and families,” said Tracey Kelly, Program Lead, IKEA U.S. Safer Life at Home Development.  “We believe this legislation is the best way to build consumer trust, provide clarity to manufacturers, encourage innovation and most importantly, reduce tip-over incidents.”

In the United States, tipped furniture or a falling TV sends an injured child to the emergency room about every 30 minutes. IKEA is committed to playing a collaborative role in promoting safe furniture use and has worked for many years — along with parents, safety advocates, policymakers and other manufacturers and retailers — to address the need to clarify, strengthen and make mandatory the existing voluntary industry standards for chests-of-drawers and other furniture.

The bipartisan STURDY Act, which was first introduced in Congress in 2016 by Senator Robert Casey (D – PA), will require the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to create a mandatory furniture stability standard that will help protect children from the danger of tip-overs.

We thank the forward-looking lawmakers in Congress — in particular Senators Casey, Blumenthal, Klobuchar, Cantwell, Wicker, Cotton, and Blunt, as well as Representative Schakowsky — for sponsoring this bill and supporting its passage. And we are proud to stand with our partners, including parents, safety advocates and others in the furniture industry, who have worked so hard to make this moment a reality. While the work is never-ending, we see the passage of STURDY as a huge step forward in protecting children and families,” said Kelly.

At IKEA, the vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people by offering well-designed, functional and affordable, high-quality home furnishing, produced with care for people and the environment. Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 12 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA retail under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. Ingka Group is a strategic partner in the IKEA franchise system, operating 389 IKEA stores in 32 countries — including 52 retail locations in the U.S.

Source – IKEA