The popular furniture manufacturer IKEA is issuing its second product recall in recent months. This time they are recalling approximately 359,000 children’s nightlights after reports have indicated that the lights may be defective and could cause possible electric shock to children. The PATRULL nightlights have only received one recorded complaint thus far—but IKEA felt that one complaint was one too many and issued the recall as a safety precaution. The recall of these PATRULL nightlights comes shortly after IKEA had to recall their MALM chests and drawers after they received multiple troubling reports of the items tipping over and seriously injuring children that had become trapped underneath the furniture.
According to a press release provided by the company, IKEA has stated that they received an alarming complaint from a customer in Austria that led them to make the executive decision to issue a total recall across the United States for the same faulty product. The report from Austria detailed an incident in which a young child attempted to remove the nightlight from their wall and by doing so they dislodged the plastic cover of the light. When the plastic cover became dislodged, the child suffered a shock from the exposed wires beneath the cover. Reportedly the child suffered minor wounds to their hand during the accident.
IKEA has stated that the PATRULL nightlights come equipped with a dome-shape plastic cover that comes in a variety of colors including white, orange, and pink with a white base attached at the bottom. Additionally, the lights contain an IKEA logo located on the top back of the nightlight near the sensor. Via the sensor, the lights will turn on automatically when it is dark out and turn themselves off once it becomes light out again. They are approximately 2 ¾ inches round and 3 ½ inches deep and have been previously sold at IKEA stores nationwide for about $4. The PATRULL nightlights included in the total recall are lights that had been purchased from August of 2013 until July of 2015.
Following the complaint from Austria, IKEA looked into the matter further and discovered that the dome-shape plastic cover may pop off fairly easily and when it does, the electric components beneath become exposed. This leaves children at a higher risk of suffering from a shock related injury. Images attached to the issued recall clearly show the circuit for the wires is fully exposed once the dome-shape cover becomes dislodged from the base. It would be fairly easy for a child to pick up the item and receive a shock from the exposed wires.
IKEA has urged consumers to immediately unplug and disuse these PATRULL nightlights in order to prevent any possible injuries from occurring. They are issuing a full refund in compliance with their recall. They have stated that costumers may contact IKEA directly at the following phone number and website link in order to return their PATRULL product and receive the refunded sum of money. The number and link are as follows: 888-966-4532, http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/customer_service/contact_us/contact.html
Additional information may be found at the following links: http://www.wtsp.com/story/money/consumer/2015/08/18/ikea-recalls-childrens-nightlights-electrical-shock-hazard/31908203/
http://www.wcvb.com/news/ikea-recalling-childrens-nightlights/34778396