What is the STURDY Act for Furniture Tip Over Prevention?
The STURDY Act stands for Stop Tip-overs of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth Act and was passed by Congress and signed into law December 2022. The act provides for a standard for dressers and other storage furniture that will provide furniture tip over prevention by requiring strong and practical stability tests.
The act seeks to prevent child deaths from falling furniture. Since 2000, more than 470 children have tragically died from furniture tip-overs…many of whom were less than 6 years of age.
As required by STURDY, the new safety standard means that furniture needs to meet the following performance requirements for protecting children up to 72 months old:
- tests for stability when the unit is placed on carpeting,
- tests for stability with loaded drawers and with multiple drawers open, and
- tests that simulate the weight of children up to 60 pounds interacting with the unit.
The act applies to clothing storage units such as dressers, cabinets, desks, credenzas and any other furniture needing to be counterweighted or secured to a wall to prevent tip-overs.
The STURDY Act goes into effect on September 1, 2023 and companies will have to be in compliance with the act’s requirements moving forward from that date for furniture tip over prevention.
Furniture Tip Over Prevention Solutions
Würth Baer Supply Company currently offers several anti-tip products to aid furniture makers to build the safest furniture to meet the Sturdy Act requirements and be in compliance.
These products include:
- Innotec Innviromass Counterweights for Furniture Tip Over Prevention – Made of 100% recycled materials, Innotec’s counterbalance weights are an eco-friendly option compared to lead and steel. Innviromass takes up less space while holding high density and heavy weight. Types A-D provide different length and height weights.
- B Walter Furniture Anti-Tip Restraint – Brackets and restraining strap kit that includes screws for securing furniture to a wall to prevent tip-overs.
- CompX Timberline SN-400 Furniture Anti-Tip Interlock System 400 – Prevents more than one drawer from being opened at a time. When either drawer is pulled open, the drawer clip on that drawer moves the snapper into a locked position. This prevents any further drawers from being opened at the same time and reduces the chance of the furniture tipping.
