child proofing your rental home
Parents can do a lot to childproof their homes: Put medicine up and away. Place baby gates on the stairs. Put cabinet locks on cabinets. But what about checking their TVs?
Injuries and deaths from TV tip-overs happen far too often. Every 45 minutes in the United States, a child is rushed to the emergency room because of a TV tip-over injury, and every three weeks a child dies from a television tipping over.
Consumer Electronics Association urges parents and caregivers to do a quick check of all the TVs in their home to make sure they are safely secured and properly placed. Heavier, box-style TVs placed on dressers or high furniture can tip over and cause serious injuries, even death, if they fall onto children.
“Parents may not think about their TVs when they’re childproofing their homes,” says Kate Carr, president and CEO of Safe Kids Worldwide. “It just takes a few minutes to look around your apartment rental. Check to see if your flat-panel TV can tip over. If you have an older, box-style TV, make sure it is on a low, stable piece of furniture. And if you aren’t using it regularly, consider recycling it.”
Safe Kids encourages families to include TV safety as part of their childproofing plans by following these tips to help keep kids safe:
secure your TV
If you have a heavier, box-style TV, make sure you either secure it to a wall or place it on a low, stable piece of furniture that is appropriate for the TV’s size and weight.
recycle your TV
To find a location near your home that safely and responsibly recycles unwanted TVs.
_x0007_secure your flat-panel TV
If you’re replacing your CRT TV with a new TV, be sure your flat-panel TV is properly secured with a mount that has a safety certification by an independent laboratory (such as UL, CSA, ETL).
— Brandpoint Content