Ikea has reissued a warning about it's Malm furniture range after the death of three young children in the US.
This comes with news that 22-month-old Ted McGee from Philadelphia was killed after a chest of drawers from the Malm range fell on top of him.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer his mother had put him down for a nap in February and was checking on him every 20 minutes when she discovered him underneath the piece of furniture.
This is the third instance of a child dying after being crushed by Ikea's Malm furniture. A two-year-old boy from Pennsylvania died in February 2014 after a Malm chest fell on him. Three months later, a 23-month-old child from Washington was killed when the family's three-drawer chest tipped over.
Last July Ikea in the US and UK offered free wall fixing kits to anyone who required them after findings in the original investigations over child deaths and injuries relating to tipping accidents.
In each of the deaths the pieces of furniture were not fixed to the wall to prevent tipping, as fixing kits were not originally supplied with the furniture in the US. However in Europe the kits have always been supplied with the Malm drawers, along with any other pieces of furniture which require fixing to the wall to prevent tipping. If you have existing furniture which you have not fixed to the wall you can request a free kit from Ikea UK.
Call Ikea UK* on 0203 6450010 (UK) or 01 5413302 (ROI) to request a free restraint kit if you do not have the original one that came with the packaging.
An Ikea spokesperson said that the company would not be recalling the Malm range because they are safe to use when they are attached to the walls. The spokesperson said:
'We at Ikea offer our deepest condolences to the McGee family. At Ikea, we believe children are the most important people in the world and the safety of our products is our highest priority.
'Upon being informed of this incident Ikea US immediately reported it to the authorities and an investigation is taking place. Ikea US has been advised that the product was not attached to the wall, which is an integral part of the products' assembly instructions.
'Malm chests of drawers – and all other chests of drawers in Ikea's range – is tested for compliance to European Safety Standard (EN 14749).
'Ikea has, for many years, provided tip-over restraints with all chests of drawers over a certain height. Warnings about the importance of using the tip-over restraints provided are included in the assembly instructions and accompanied by step by step instructions for their use.
'Where wall attachment is required, this is communicated on the price tag on display units, in Ikea store signage, and with online product information.
'Ikea has also been working to raise awareness of the importance of securing furniture to the wall. Besides providing tip-over restraints with all storage furniture where wall attachment is required, Ikea runs the campaign 'Secure It!'.
'With our broad communication we want to create awareness that Ikea chests of drawers are safe to use when assembled according to the assembly instruction and attached to the wall.
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