Computers (equipment And Electronic Games)
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Home Structures & Construction Materials · CPSC Code 557
Up 11% over 5 years
The verdict
Computers (equipment And Electronic Games) carry a danger score of 42/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 28,902 ER-treated injuries a year that are rising by about 11% over the last five years.
- 42/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 28,902
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.8%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 557 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 42/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for computers (equipment and electronic games) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume28,902 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.8%
- Fatality rate0.03%
- 5-year trend+11%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Computers (equipment And Electronic Games) (CPSC product code 557, in the Home Structures & Construction Materials category) generate an estimated 28,902 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 578,045 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 42/100 for this category (moderate risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are rising by about 11% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2010 (38,699 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (15,464 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for computers (equipment and electronic games) is other to the upper trunk, accounting for approximately 43,636 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by internal injury to the head (28,987 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 132,140 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 4.8% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.03%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 1,623 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how computers (equipment and electronic games) fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 32,399 | 20,251 | |
| 5-14 | 89,061 | 43,079 | |
| 15-24 | 73,112 | 40,472 | |
| 25-34 | 44,646 | 33,835 | |
| 35-44 | 29,290 | 30,266 | |
| 45-54 | 20,688 | 28,309 | |
| 55-64 | 16,763 | 23,716 | |
| 65-74 | 12,455 | 16,213 | |
| 75+ | 9,282 | 14,086 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| All Parts Body | Other | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Other | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Neck | Strain, Sprain | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Neck | Other | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
30YOF COMPLAINS OF RIGHT WRIST PAIN AFTER PLAYING VIDEO GAMES. DX: WRIST PAIN, WRIST SPRAIN
43 YOM C/O OF UPPER BACK AND NECK PAIN, HEARD A POP, AFTER PLAYING VIDEO GAME LAST NIGHT. DX: NECK AND BACK PAIN, HEADACHE,
43YOM HX PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS ON EMBREL,PREDNISONE,MONTHS OF NECK PX RELATED TO SPONYLITIS,UNSTABLE C4-C5 IN NOVEMBER PRESENT TO ED W/ 2D NECK PX,PT WAS SWINGING A GOLF CLUB IN A VIRTUAL REALITY GAME,FELT A POP IN NECK,SINCE HAS R>L HAND TREMOR,WEAK SENSATION IN FEET,DIFFICULTY SWALLOWINGDX:RESTING TREMOR
36YOF IS IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING AND WAS CLEANING THREE DAYS AGO AND SHE DEVELOPED PAIN IN LEFT SHOULDER CONTINUED PAIN THEN TODAY WHILE WORKING ON HER COMPUTER SHE MADE A SUDDEN MOVE AND FELT THE PAIN SHARPEN AND WORSEN DX: TENDONITIS OF LEFT SHOULDER
12YOF PUT TIP OF *** PENCIL IN RIGHT NOSTRIL AT SCHOOL DX:FOREIGN BODY IN NOSE
6 YOM PLAYING A VIDEO GAME, GOT UPSET AND SWUNG HEAD BACK, HITTING IT ON A TABLE. DX SCALP LACERATION
11YOM WAS PLAYING A VIRTUAL REALITY GAME WITH A HEADSET ON WHEN HE FELT A POP IN HIS NECK DX: STRAINED NECK
19MOF PULLED THE CORD OF AN *** OFF OF THE SHELF AND FELL ONTO LEFT FOOT DX: ABRASION FOOT
15YOM HAD SEIZURE WHILE PLAYING VIDEO GAMES. BIT HIS TONGUE- INJURY N.S. DX: SEIZURE
28YOM, WAS SITTING PLAYING VIDEOGAMES HOME WHEN SUDDENLY FELT POP IN THE HIP, DX: PAIN OF LEFT LOWER EXTERMITY
30YOF WAS USING A TABLET THAT HAD A CRACKED SCREEN AND CUT LEFT INDEX FINGER DX: AVULSION TO FINGER
59YOF, WAS SITTING AT HER COMPUTER WHEN SUDDENLY DEVELOPED POUNDING LIKE HEART PALPITATIONS, PERSISTED AND BECAME CONCERNED SO SHE CAME IN, DX: PALPITATIONS
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
I plugged in the Jiobit brand gps that my son uses daily into the charging station provided. About an hour after plugging in the device my daughter smelled smoke and I walked in to find it smoking and sparking. I unplugged the device, took pictures of it, and immediately contacted customer support. I again contacted customer support 24 hours later because I still had not gotten a response. It took 48 hours for a response to be received and they told me that they could offer me a discount on a replacement. I explained how upset I was over this and how if I had not been at home or if we had been asleep my house could have caught on fire. They then claimed that the device must have been wet. The device is advertised as water resistant and was not wet when I placed it in the charger.
The laptop battery exploded while charging and put the laptop on fire. Fire restarted a couple of times after attempting to put it off. Fire caught the bed cover and the carpet and burned part of the wooden floor. The laptop battery melted and came off, the laptop got burnt and is completely damaged. This put my self and my family in great danger and jeapordized all our home possessions.
I have a Fitbit Flex, I had trouble with the first two bands splitting, and I keep getting burns where the charger touches my skin.
I have a Fitbit Charge HR that I have had for just shy of 3 months. I was wearing it about two finger widths higher than my wrist on my dominant hand. Wearing it tight enough to keep it in place there, I started to get irritation on the clasp side. Since then, and doing research, I have lowered it on my wrist and started wearing it to where the device will stay put but I can move it around a bit. I haven't had much issue with that until recently. I took the device off and plugged it in to charge in the morning. After being at work and letting it charge all day, I put the device back on right before bed. The next morning I took it off after waking up and before getting into the shower. I left the device off for approximately 1 hour when I put it back on before leaving for work. After only a few minutes of wearing it I noticed something didn't feel right so I took the device back off. That's when I saw a rectangular "burn" on my wrist the size and shape of the sensor on the device.
I purchased a Fitbit Surge from my local BestBuy store.After wearing it for approximately 10 days on my right wrist the skin underneath the band began to severely blister and redden. After removing the device from my wrist I didn't wear it for approximately two weeks. During that time my wrist eventually returned to normal. I tried wearing it on my left wrist, but it too started to redden after one day. I don't wear it all now.
I purchased my FitBit Surge and used it daily to record my exercise activities. I started feeling a burning sensation on my wrist. I took the Fitbit off and noticed some reddening so I switched it to the other wrist. I had the same thing happen again on the other wrist so I took it off and didn't use it for a few weeks. I put it on again and had the same irritation reoccur but it burned much more this time. I took the FitBit off and noticed my wrist was bleeding.
The tablet stopped charging about 6 mths ago so it has just sat on my husbands night stand with a magazine on top of it. Temperature of the room probably ranged 65-80 Degrees F. The other day he asked me if I have heard any crackling noises in the bedroom and I said no. Tonight he walks out of the bedroom holding the tablet with a shattered screen that is expanding in the middle. You can see inside and it looks like a silver aluminum pouch expanded like a balloon. He said he noticed his magazine had slid on the floor and that is how he saw the tablet.
I bought the Sony Vaio VPCF115FM from Best Buy in July of 2009. The very first day I had the Vaio, I experienced overheating problems. After doing some research, these notebook computers may overheat due to a potential malfunction of the internal temperature management system, resulting in deformation of the product's keyboard or external casing, and a potential burn hazard to consumers. The information about the recall is found on the Sony website at: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?template_id=1&news_id=401. According to the recall page: "If you have one of the VPCF11 or VPCCW2 series models, Sony recommends that you download and install a firmware update specifically designed to prevent the potential overheating symptom." After downloading the firmware update and install, the only thing that I noticed that was different was that the fans would run at full speed all the time. Whether I was browsing the web or watching a movie, the noisy fan would be running at 100%. This update did not fix my problem. I was still getting temperature readings above 100 degrees Celsius (the temperature at which water boils). This laptop gets so hot, that it will cause a burn if set on your lap. This is not only a safety hazard but a fire hazard. Whenever my Vaio reaches processor temperatures of over 100 degrees Celsius, it shuts off due to overheating. I currently own a business repairing computers, networking businesses, building custom PC's, and doing web design. I have a bachelors degree in computer science and minored in information systems. Basically, I have a well rounded knowledge of computers and how they work. I also know that processor temperatures over 100 degrees Celsius at under 50% RAM usage is completely unacceptable. A while back I attempted to have Sony service my laptop without success. After talking with many different people in customer service, I was told that there was nothing I could do and that my call could not be escalated
Showing 8 of 1,623 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to computers (equipment and electronic games) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are computers (equipment and electronic games)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, computers (equipment and electronic games) have a danger score of 42/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 28,902 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from computers (equipment and electronic games)?
The most common injury is other to the upper trunk, accounting for approximately 43,636 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from computers (equipment and electronic games) increasing or decreasing?
Up 11% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for computers (equipment and electronic games) injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 132,140 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by computers (equipment and electronic games)?
Of all ER visits involving computers (equipment and electronic games), approximately 4.8% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.2%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with computers (equipment and electronic games)?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Home Structures & Construction Materials
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 42/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 5-14 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
