Counters Or Countertops
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.
Building Materials & Home Structures · CPSC Code 1864
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Counters Or Countertops carry a danger score of 45/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 60,665 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 45/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 60,665
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 8.4%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1864 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 45/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for counters or countertops - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume60,665 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)8.4%
- Fatality rate0.03%
- 5-year trend+7%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Counters Or Countertops (CPSC product code 1864, in the Building Materials & Home Structures category) generate an estimated 60,665 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 1.2M ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 45/100 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 roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (81,259 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2005 (40,859 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for counters or countertops is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 219,068 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the face (144,402 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 288,021 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 8.4% 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 2 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how counters or countertops 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 | 166,953 | 120,989 | |
| 5-14 | 85,102 | 62,957 | |
| 15-24 | 44,405 | 60,325 | |
| 25-34 | 41,186 | 63,723 | |
| 35-44 | 36,267 | 56,865 | |
| 45-54 | 38,783 | 58,433 | |
| 55-64 | 41,066 | 61,066 | |
| 65-74 | 39,028 | 63,076 | |
| 75+ | 59,949 | 112,653 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Upper Trunk | Fracture | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Mouth | Laceration | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| All Parts Body | Poisoning | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Lower Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Upper Trunk | Other |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
61YOF TAKING *** AND FELL STRIKING HEAD ON A GRANITE COUNTER KITCHEN TOP DX CLOSE HEAD INJURY CHRONIC ANTICOAGULATION
66YOF WAS IN HER KITCHEN WHEN SHE HAD A TRIP AND FALL STRIKING HEAD ON COUNTER DX:CLOSED HEAD INJURY STRAIN RIGHT ANKLE LAC TO FOREHEAD
79YOM HAD A SLIP AND FALL STRIKING CHEST ON COUNTER TOP DX:RIB FRACTURES
31 YOF HAD A SYNCOPAL EPISODE AT DR OFFICE, STRIKING HEAD ON COUNTER. DX: SYNCOPE, FOREHEAD LACERATION
70 YOM FELL COMING OUT OF THE BATHROOM AT A RESTAURANT, HIT HEAD ON COUNTER, ENDORSES DRINKING 3 BEERS PRIOR, BAL 292. DX: FALL, ALCOHOL USE
37YOF WITH HITTING HEAD ON COUNTER TOP DX; CHI
68YOF HAD A SLIP AND FALL AT THE NURSING HOME, SHE WAS WALKING AND GOT TANGLED UP IN HER LEGS AND FELL STRIKING HER HEAD ON THE BATHROOM COUNTER DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY
37YOM WITH LAC TO FOREHEAD AFTER FALL AT HOME HITTING FOREHEAD ON KITCHEN COUNTER . PT ENDORSES ETOH USE BUT NOT INTOX ON EXAM BAL UNKNOWN DX: FALL
3YOM WAS SEATED ON THE COUNTERTOP WHEN HE FELL OFF STRIKING HEAD ON THE TILE FLOOR DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY
17MOM FELL OFF THE KITCHEN COUNTER STRIKING HEAD ON A TILE FLOOR DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY
53YOF, DOING LAUNDRY WHEN SLIPPED AND FELL BACKWARD STRUCK SIDE OF HEAD ONTO THE COUNTER, NO LOSS OF CONSCIOUJS, DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT EARLOBE
8YOF HAD A SLIP AND FALL STRIKING HEAD ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER DX CLOSED HEAD INJURY
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
About 3 years ago we had a 71" Virtu USA vanity with a tempered glass counter top installed. We purchased from Wayfair.There have been no issues until this morning. As I was walking through the master bath the counter top literally exploded sending shards of glass in all directions. I suffered a few minor cuts but it took several hours to get the glass from everywhere. The only items on the counter at the time were toothbrushes & a bar of soap in holders. Fortunately there were no serious injuries.
ON 2-3-2015 AT ABOUT 1600 HRS, MY GRANDDAUGHTER WAS REACHING FOR A BANANA ON TOP OF THIS PORTABLE KITCHEN ISLAND,THE ISLAND TIPPED OVER AND LANDED ON HER, SHE HAS A BROKEN BONE ON HER RIGHT THIGH AREA, THE ISLAND HAS A GRANITE TOP THAT WEIGHTS ABOUT 40 LBS,PART OF THIS GRANITE TOP LANDED ON HER RIGHT LEG THIS GRANITE TOP SITS ON TOP OF THE ISLAND WITH ONLY 2 DOWELS
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to counters or countertops on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are counters or countertops?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, counters or countertops have a danger score of 45/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 60,665 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from counters or countertops?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 219,068 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from counters or countertops increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for counters or countertops injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 288,021 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by counters or countertops?
Of all ER visits involving counters or countertops, approximately 8.4% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (91.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with counters or countertops?
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 Building Materials & Home Structures
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 45/100 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 0-4 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.
