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Written by National Consumers League Intern Sarah Aillon<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThe Trump administration is waging war against regulations. In January, President Trump announced in his State of the Union address that \u201cin our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in history.\u201d Since entering Office, the Trump administration rolled back many environmental, and economic regulations which secure the health, safety, and security of the American people. While the Trump Administration boastfully describes these rollbacks as progress, many public protection advocates have sounded their alarms.<\/p>\n
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Earlier this June, the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards and Georgetown Law<\/a> organized a symposium which addressed the threat deregulation poses in the Trump era. Titled, The War on Regulation: Good for Corporations, Bad for the Public, the event featured a wide range of public protection advocates, including the mother of an accident victim, professors, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) Their stories prove just how critical many regulations are for individual well-being and what happens when regulations do not monitor dangerous products.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Janet McGee, an advocate on the event\u2019s second panel, and described the harrowing death of her 22-month-old son, Ted. In 2016, the toddler was in his room napping. When Janet went in to check on him, she found Ted under a dresser that had fallen on him. Ted was unresponsive and cold but had a faint heartbeat. McGee started CPR and then rushed him to the hospital. Tragically, the boy passed away four short hours after she first found him.<\/p>\n McGee\u2019s story is not outstanding: every 17 minutes<\/a> someone in the United States is injured by falling furniture, televisions or appliances. These furniture tip-overs kill a child every two weeks.<\/p>\n Voluntary safety standards in the American furniture industry perpetuate the high risk of furniture tip-overs. Voluntary safety standards threaten the consumer’s safety and security. A Consumer Reports investigation tested 24 dressers against the industry\u2019s voluntary safety standards and found only six dressers met the industry\u2019s standards. In response to their findings, Consumer Reports suggested raising the test weight for furniture tip-overs from 50 pounds to 60 pounds and to apply tests to dressers that are 30 inches high and higher. Anchoring dressers to walls with brackets and straps is an effective strategy to prevent the problem, but few consumers are aware of the need to secure their furniture from tip-overs.<\/p>\n Voluntary safety standards make enforcement of furniture safety difficult. Companies can pick and choose what standards they comply with. Voluntary safety standards allow product design to remain poor and increase the threat of injury and death.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n The Ikea dresser responsible for the death of Janet McGee\u2019s son did not meet safety standards. McGee\u2019s Ikea dresser is not the only one from the company to fail their consumers. Over the course of 19 years, 8 children have died<\/a> from Ikea dressers. As stated by McGee, the longstanding effects of furniture tip-over represent an industry-wide problem. However, with voluntary safety standards, little enforcement or change occurs.<\/p>\n Despite the danger many dressers on the market hold, little has been done to resolve the threat. Safety standards remain voluntary instead of mandatory. \u201cParents should worry about their children for many reasons, but furniture falling on them should not be one of them,\u201d said McGee. Eventually, Ikea offered to take back 29 million chests and dressers in the Malm line, but very few consumers knew about the recall. Tens of millions of the Malm dressers are thought to still be in use and unsecured today.<\/p>\n McGee\u2019s tragic, cautionary tale is just one example of why consumer regulations are necessary. President Trump\u2019s focus on slashing regulations endanger everyday people, favoring big business at consumers\u2019 expense. Regulatory safeguards enable people to live and work safely. \u201cStrong government rules matter. We cannot, we must not accept a government that works only for a privileged few,\u201d Warren said.<\/p>\n