IKEA Lawsuit: Safety Lesson for Aspiring Designers and Inventors

Avoiding Dangerous Furniture Design 
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After incidents in which a dresser toppled over causing
fatal injuries to a small child, lawsuits were filed against IKEA.
Tragic circumstances that illustrate what
can happen when a product is introduced to the marketplace
with a lack of proper initial research and planning..

At a minimum, risk analysis. was overlooked:
Who, what where, how will the product
be used? Could anyone be injured? How?  What solution
best solves the problem?

Responsibility for a poorly designed product shifted to
consumers when free anchor kits were offered?
How many people would make a mistake and not secure
the heavy furniture correctly? With no way to answer
that question, A proper design was the
answer followed by recall. recall were

Takeaway:  Check accident records of similar products
and factor in design specs that not only solve the issue
but provide a competitive edge based on safety

References
Abc7ny.com
IKEA Facing Lawsuits…
http://tinyurl.com/gnxo2lf

CDC.gov/datastatistics
http://www.cdc.gov/datastatistics/

Dee Adams is the author of 
Finding Your Niche: Discover…