Child Home Safety – Large Screen TV Child Safety Tips You Must Know
This is a guest post by Sara Parker. If you want to guest post on this blog, check out the guidelines here.
The bigger the TV, the more dangerous it can be. There have been several reported cases of children being injured by falling TV sets – in one case being killed – kicking around on the internet recently. A blog post with the same title as mine talks about a girl called Kayla (from Australia I believe), who spent over six weeks in hospital recovering from emergency cranial surgery after a 30kg big screen TV fell on her from on top of a chest of drawers.
Modern flat screen TVs weigh a lot more than you would think. They’re certainly heavy enough to do damage, particularly if they drop off a poorly fixed wall mounting bracket. To the head of a child standing directly beneath a big screen TV falling off a wall, the impact is like a falling log.
When you buy a flat screen TV, you must make sure that the brackets or stand you choose to mount it on are fit for the job. In all cases, using the manufacturer’s own stand or bracket is recommended – these items have been designed specifically to support the weight of the television in question.
If you free mount a flat screen TV on the “foot” that its manufacturer has supplied with it, you should make sure that the area on which it is mounted is sufficient to take the footprint of the stand. You should also make sure that there is enough space between the stand and the edge of the object the stand has been stood on, to ensure there is no danger of an impact starting the TV rocking.
If you choose to use an all in one stand (one of those stand/table affairs that incorporate full media centre shelving) you must again make sure that it is suitable for your TV. If you have purchased the TV from your satellite cable provider as part of your package, you will probably be offered a manufacturer approved multimedia stand suitable for the model in question. Accept it. In all cases, whether you’re offered a stand or not, you should ask the satellite TV provider’s advice on what size or kind of stand you should use.
Wall brackets are the same. In most cases you will have to purchase wall brackets separately from your TV – and, again, in all cases you should make sure that you buy a bracket either made by or approved by the TV manufacturer.
Hanging a TV on a wall bracket is a dangerous job. Get the children away from the site you’re working at and make sure you have at least one other person to help. Really you should have two to hold the TV while you attend to the fixings.
A TV dropping from its position on the wall onto your foot could result in your finishing the day with fewer toes than you started it with, so do be very careful. Follow the instructions that come with the bracket to the letter., Make sure you choose the correct wall to hang the TV on and find studding to locate the load bearing bolts. Again, if you have questions ask your satellite TV provider, who may be able to help.
About The Author:
Sara Parker is a Freelance and Staff writer who writes informative & creative articles on Television and Technology. Her expertises are in writing articles related to Satellite TV providers, Satellite TV deals, Satellite Connections, etc.
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important info!
Yup, TV can be very dangerous. TV fall down and killed a kid also happen in Malaysia a few years back. So, be careful to all parents.
It seems that flat TV’s are dangerous, thanks for the info.
Great content, definitely worth reading and much appreciated.
It is also worth mentioning that even when A manufactures bracket allows for a certain weight and your TV is under the allowed weight the most important thing to watch out for is that the wall can carry the weight of the TV especially when you have a swivel bracket!!!
Had my TV wall mounted by Express Installers and have learned loads.