The STURDY Act, which passed through Congress in December, required federal regulators to establish a mandatory rule for the manufacturing, testing, and labeling of clothing storage furniture—a frequent culprit in tip-over incidents. As of Sept. 1, those rules will be in effect for all dressers, chests, armoires, and similar furniture over a certain size and weight.
For furniture makers who want to sell in the U.S., that means that they must now test their dressers for stability, and provide anchoring kits when they are sold. For retailers, all new furniture they sell that’s made after Sept. 1 has to meet these requirements.
One important caveat: Furniture made before September can still be sold in stores and online, even if it does not comply with the new standards.
For parents, that will make shopping for a new dresser a little confusing, at least for a little while, in part because furniture doesn’t usually come with a date-of-manufacture label on it. Here are some tips to help you make a safe choice when shopping and installing a dresser or other new furniture:
• Ask the store or manufacturer when the dresser was made and whether it is compliant with the new STURDY Act requirements. If they are unsure or can’t answer, take a pass.
• Make sure the dresser comes with an anchor kit—and use it. The STURDY Act requires that all dressers covered under the rule have to be sold with one, but some retailers have already been providing the kits anyway.
• Bear in mind that the new rules apply only to dressers, not to bookshelves, entertainment centers, televisions, or tables, all of which could also potentially pose tip-over risks to kids. So for anyone with small kids in the house, the good advice remains that when in doubt, anchor it. CR has a video tutorial that can teach you how.
“This safety standard will prevent injuries and save children’s lives by ensuring that furniture is built to be more stable,” says Gabe Knight, a policy analyst at CR. “At the same time, it remains critically important for parents and caregivers to anchor furniture. This is not a panacea, but thankfully, before too long, manufacturers will be required to make safer products.”
