Containers, Not Specified
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.
Containers & Packaging · CPSC Code 1141
Down 14% over 5 years
The verdict
Containers, Not Specified carry a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 133,027 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 14% over the last five years.
- 43/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 133,027
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 4.4%
- end in hospital admission
- 25-34
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1141 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 43/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for containers, not specified - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume133,027 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)4.4%
- Fatality rate0.01%
- 5-year trend-14%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Containers, Not Specified (CPSC product code 1141, in the Containers & Packaging category) generate an estimated 133,027 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 2.7M ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 43/100 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 declining by about 14% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2017 (154,938 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (109,825 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for containers, not specified is strain, sprain to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 396,299 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by other to the lower trunk (250,991 cases). The 25-34 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 473,405 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 4.4% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.01%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 95 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how containers, not specified 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 | 54,109 | 41,806 | |
| 5-14 | 65,226 | 46,963 | |
| 15-24 | 155,015 | 153,256 | |
| 25-34 | 230,446 | 242,913 | |
| 35-44 | 210,162 | 246,742 | |
| 45-54 | 189,718 | 248,312 | |
| 55-64 | 140,088 | 192,666 | |
| 65-74 | 88,628 | 138,823 | |
| 75+ | 73,858 | 141,494 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Upper Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Shoulder | Other | |
| Lower Trunk | Nerve Damage | |
| Neck | Strain, Sprain | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Wrist | Strain, Sprain | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Ankle | Strain, Sprain |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
59YOM WAS MOVING SOME CHRISTMAS PACKAGES AND BOXES AND DEVELOPED TESTICLE PAIN AND SWELLING DX: TESTICULAR PAIN, TESTICLE SWELLING, AND HYDROCELE
49YOM PRESENTS WITH RIGHT LOW BACK PAIN STATES HIS BACK STARTED HURTING WHEN HE BENT OVER TO PICK UP A HEAVY BOX AND STARTED FEELING SPASMING PAIN IN HIS BACK, RADIATES INTO HIS UPPER LEGS BILATERALLY. DX: NONE (LEFT WITHOUT BEING DISCHARGED)
77 YOM C/O LOWER LEG INJURY S/P TRIPPED OVER BOXES AND FELL DOWN STEPS AND THEN TO THE FLOOR AT HOME AND COULD NOT GET BACK UP. DX: LOWER LEG INJURY
85YOF HAD A TRIP AND FALL OVER BOX AT HOME DX:FRACTURED RADIUS
53YOF C/O PAIN TO RIGHT SIDE OF HER BACK SINCE 12/23. WAS CARRYING HEAVY TOTES WHEN PAIN STARTED. LEFT BEFORE EVALUATION. DX: UNKNOWN
21YOF WAS LIFTING A CONTAINER WITH HOT OIL WHEN PT SPILLED OIL ON HAND, DX BURN TO HAND
53YOF, C/O THORACIC FRACTURE, MOVING BOXES X 1 MONTH AGO FROM STORAGE UNIT, C/O MID BACK PAIN, URGENT CARE SENT HER DUE TO XRAY REPORT DX: T11 COMPRESSION FRACUTRE W/ RETROPULSION
60YOM PRESENTS FOR FALL. REPORTS HE TRIPPED OVER A WIRE AND BOX AND FELL ON HIS LEFT HIP AND SIDE. ENDORSES LEFT HIP PAIN. DENIES HEAD TRAUMA. DX: FALL, MUSCULOSKELETAL PAIN
42YOF WAS LIFTING HEAVY BOX AND DEVELOPED PAIN DOWN LOWER BACK DX:LUMBAR STRAIN
38 YOM WITH LEFT LOW BACK PAIN RADIATING TO THE LEFT HIP SINCE PUTTING A HEAVY BOX IN HIS TRUNK YESTERDAY AND FEELING A PULLING SENSATION. DX LOW BACK/SI PAIN - MYOFASCIAL
36YOM WHERE IS LIFTING HEAVY BOXES AND DEVELOP PAIN IN CHEST DX CHEST WALL STRAIN
53YOF TO ER FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN THAT SHE EXACERBATED WHEN SHE PICKED UP A CASE OF WATER TODAY DX ACUTE EXACERBATION OF CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Each of my children has a character water bottle sold from Walmart for &0.98. My 5 year old daughter was drinking out of hers while we were in the car on the highway on Sunday and was able to stick her tongue through the lid hole but was then unable to get it back out. Her tongue swelled up and we had to go to the emergency room to get it off.
The consumer indicates that he went to pick up the gallon of juice and dropped it because the handle has no ridges and moves 360 degrees. The consumer believes the handle should be not be moveable. The consumer contacted the Manufacturer and explained the situation; the representative he spoke indicated that they would look into the matter, and also sent the consumer some free coupons for the product. The consumer plans on keeping his unit for at least the next thirty days.
The consumer says when opening up the container, the instructions were printed with three diagrams. He was following the instructions. He placed his index finger inside to lift, but it would not break the seal. He said it would not release. He pulled the tab as hard as he could with both index fingers. The seal broke and his hand lifted upward. He says there were two sharp, plastic prongs that were not shown in the diagram. Both index fingers went across the prongs and he punctured his fingers. He says it is where the top finger joint is. He went to the hospital for urgent care treatment where he received a prescription for antibiotics. The consumer says he could not use his hands for almost two months. He could not bend his fingers. He contacted the manufacturer about four months ago. The insurance company for the manufacturer finally emailed him back stating that the instructions on the package are complete and should be followed.
I discovered today Tylenol makes powder packets both for children (160mg) and adults (500mg). However, the packets look nearly identical. It would be so easy for a parent to grab the wrong packet and dose their child incorrectly. This is why infant tylenol was changed to be the same concentration as children's tylenol, because parents were not aware of the difference and dosing incorrectly. Consider this a near miss, if no parent has made this mistake yet.
The TIDL lidocaine spray I bought from Amazon does not have a child lock feature. My 3 year old niece twisted it and sprayed it all over the place. This is so uncool and so unsafe.
This incident regards a medication container design defect that sent my two year old daughter to the emergency room. In November 2010, I discovered my daughter, who was two-years old at the time, with my pill bottle. She had opened my pill bottle and had spilled them all over the floor. She also had a pill in her mouth. I removed the pill from her mouth and called poison control. They asked the name of the medication, and I told them 112mcg of lovothyroxine. They asked if she swallowed any, and I said I did not know. They told me to bring her to the emergency room. I rushed her to the hospital and they examined her and gave her a charcoal solution to drink. I brought the pills to show the doctor. We were there for about 3-4 hours and then returned home. The pill container was from [redacted], a drugs-through-the-mail program via my insurance company. I had Anthem BCBS health insurance at the time. I did not take any action regarding this incident, but I have been transferring my pills to another, more secure bottle. I understand that elderly customers have a hard time opening child-proof pill bottles, so they make them easier to open. But to make them so easy to open that a two-year old girl can do it? And, my daughter is a relatively small girl. It is not only one bottle, but all their bottles are desiged the same - all have a design defect. I changed jobs since then and now have health insurance through GEHA. They use Medco for drugs-through-the-mail program. Unfortunately, they have the same pill bottles as [redacted]! Now, I have to continue to transfer my pills because the pill bottles are not child-proof. I was finally fed up with transferring my pills, because it is not the proper thing to do. I do not want to have my pills in a different container with the wrong drug description and dates, etc... I called Medco about three weeks ago to explain what happened and filed a complaint with customer service about the pill bottles. The
I bought the tm! Storage Set from toys r us in douglaston New York on December 2013 for my 7 year old daughter as a Christmas present ...several times because of the sharp cut out edges around the storage bin we, me, my daughter and her grandma have gotten hurt on our fingers... Once it was so bad that I got cut between my skin and nail. Today, September 18, I went to return it today and was declined a return since it was past their 90 day return policy. I called the 1800 toys r us number to lodge in the issue and was told someone will contact me in 4-5 business days for a resolution.
Advised that two products that we have been sent have been recalled since they are not in tamper-proof packaging. Medique-Decorel Forte Plus Lot on Box 05601 Lot on Packets 6068 Exp. 08-2021 Medique-I-Prin Lot on Box 4422 Lot on Packets 6181 Exp. 10-2021
Showing 8 of 95 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to containers, not specified on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are containers, not specified?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, containers, not specified have a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 133,027 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from containers, not specified?
The most common injury is strain, sprain to the lower trunk, accounting for approximately 396,299 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from containers, not specified increasing or decreasing?
Down 14% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for containers, not specified injuries?
The 25-34 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 473,405 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by containers, not specified?
Of all ER visits involving containers, not specified, approximately 4.4% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.6%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with containers, not specified?
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 Containers & Packaging
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 43/100 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 25-34 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.