The Recall Desk
CriticalCPSC·04115·Announced 2004-04-05

Sauder TV/VCR Carts Recalled After Tipping Incident Caused Infant Death

Sauder Woodworking is recalling about 592,000 TV/VCR carts that can tip over easily, following a report of a child's death and other injuries.

What this means for you

Highest-severity recall. Risk of serious injury or death is documented or strongly suspected. Stop using the product now and follow the agency's instructions.

Our severity reasoning: The source text explicitly reports the death of a 19-month-old child resulting from the product hazard, which meets the rubric criteria for a Critical severity score.

Plain-English summary

Sauder Woodworking Co. is recalling approximately 592,000 TV/VCR carts, models 2655 and 2755, because they can tip over easily. The hazard involves the cart and television falling, which can injure or kill children and adults. The recalled carts were sold in a kit for consumer assembly and feature four removable casters on the bottom corners.

Sauder Woodworking received 13 reports of these carts tipping over. These reports include the death of a 19-month-old girl in North Wales, Pa., who suffered a fractured skull when the cart and television fell on her. Additionally, four reports involved injuries to children and adults, including one child with a recovered skull fracture and three instances of bumps and bruises.

The carts were sold at department, discount, and home electronic stores nationwide from January 1993 through December 1999 for about $100. Consumers should stop using the carts immediately, remove the television and contents, and remove the four casters from the bottom to improve stability. Consumers should contact Sauder Woodworking Co. to receive a free repair kit and should not use the cart until the kit is installed.

The recalled product

Product
TV/VCR Carts
Affected units
592,000

Distribution

Distributed nationwide across the United States.