Refrigerator death

An older refrigerator with a closing latch and a newer version which closes magnetically

Refrigerator death refers to death by suffocation in a refrigerator or similar device such as a freezer. Such deaths were not uncommon for children in the United States before the passage of the Refrigerator Safety Act in 1956.[1][2][3] Children would occasionally play in abandoned refrigerators and become trapped because the doors were secured shut by latches that could only be opened by the handle on the outside. The first reactions to the deaths were to ask people not to abandon refrigerators and to detach the doors of unused refrigerators. At least one state, Oklahoma, enacted legislation making the abandonment of a refrigerator with a latch in a location where a child might find it a felony.[4] In the mid- to late 1950s troops of people would sometimes search out abandoned refrigerators, detaching the doors and smashing the locks. However, these efforts were not entirely effective, and children were still dying inside of refrigerators that had not been found and dismantled. The continued occurrence of refrigerator deaths led to a law that required a change in the way refrigerator doors stay shut. The act applied to all refrigerators manufactured in the United States after October 31, 1958, and is largely responsible for the adoption of the magnetic mechanism that is used today instead of a latch.[1]

The number of deaths due to suffocation in refrigerators declined a statistically significant amount in the years after the law.[5][6]

The problem with children suffocating in the appliances was well known. At least as early as 1954, alternative methods of securing air-tight closure had been suggested, e.g., in patent 2767011, filed by Francis P. Buckley et al. in 1954 and issued in 1956.[7]

The Refrigerator Safety Act is codified at 15 U.S.C. 1211 1214) as Public Law 84-930, 70 Stat. 953, August 2, 1956.[8]

Individual American states also have similar laws, such as California's.[9]

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Straight Dope: Is it impossible to open a refrigerator door from the inside?
  2. ↑ Parrott proposes change to refrigerator law - Herald-Mail
  3. ↑ How A Refrigerator Can Kill You | Fridge Freezer Site
  4. ↑ "21 OS 1208". OSCN.net.
  5. ↑ HIPRC: Best Practices
  6. ↑ Kraus, JF (1985). "Effectiveness of measures to prevent unintentional deaths of infants and children from suffocation and strangulation". Public Health Rep. 100: 231–40. PMC 1424727Freely accessible. PMID 3920722.
  7. ↑ Patent US2767011 - REFRIGERATOR LATCH MECHANISM - Google Patents
  8. ↑ CPSC Search
  9. ↑ California Penal Code Section 402b - California Attorney Resources - California Laws

References

External links

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