Safety regulator, Appliance Manufacturers Announce Voluntary Recall Initiative for Old Chest Freezers - A Deadly Play Area for Children

Recall number

01016

Date

Oct 24, 2000

Company

The Association

Units affected

9,000,000

Product

Chest freezers

Product type

Freezers

Hazard

Suffocation

The freezers that are part of this program were made before 1970 by more than 40 manufacturers, a number of whom do not exist today. Consumers can determine if their chest freezer poses a hazard by trying to open the freezer without using the handle. If the freezer can be opened by pulling up on sides of the lid, it is not a hazard. If the lid only opens by using the handle, it needs to be properly disposed of or disabled. Up to 9 million chest freezers were manufactured between 1945 and 1970 before voluntary safety standards went into effect, allowing freezers to be opened from the inside. The freezers that are part of this program were made before 1970 by more than 40 manufacturers, a number of whom do not exist today. Consumers can determine if their chest freezer poses a hazard by trying to open the freezer without using the handle. If the freezer can be opened by pulling up on sides of the lid, it is not a hazard. If the lid only opens by using the handle, it needs to be properly disposed of or disabled.

Although some manufacturers had freezers that were in compliance prior to the 1970 standards, most old chest freezers have latches that can trap a child. Children playing "hide-and-seek" have found the non-working freezers a deadly place to hide. When the lid closes, children can become trapped inside and suffocate - usually in less than ten minutes.

Consumers should properly dispose of these non-working freezers immediately or disable the latch, if disposal is impossible. Even if a consumer has a pre-1970 chest freezer that is working, they should still call the toll-free number to get information on what to do, when the freezer is no longer working.

Incidents

Tragically, 27 children have died from suffocation between 1980 and 1999 after becoming trapped in the freezers. The deaths occurred in non-working freezers stored outside, in basements or garages. Victims ranged in age from two to fourteen. In many cases, more than one child suffocated inside the freezer.

Sold at

The recalled bunk beds were sold through Pottery Barn Furniture Outlets in Leesburg, Va.; Memphis, Tenn.; Dawsonville, Ga.; and Jeffersonville, Ohio; and nationwide, through the Pottery Barn Kids catalog, from September 1999 through July 2000, for about $1,100.