Floor Buffers Or Waxers
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.
Laundry & Household Appliances · CPSC Code 113
Down 43% over 5 years
The verdict
Floor Buffers Or Waxers carry a danger score of 27/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 425 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 43% over the last five years.
- 27/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 425
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 3.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 45-54
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 113 - last data year 2023.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 27/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for floor buffers or waxers - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume425 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)3.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-43%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Floor Buffers Or Waxers (CPSC product code 113, in the Laundry & Household Appliances category) generate an estimated 425 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 8,081 ER-treated injuries across the 19-year span from 2005 to 2023. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 27/100 for this category (low 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 43% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2013 (958 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2010 (188 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for floor buffers or waxers is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 951 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by other to the lower trunk (627 cases). The 45-54 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 2,218 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 3.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how floor buffers or waxers 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 2023-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2023)
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 | 80 | 0 | |
| 5-14 | 21 | 0 | |
| 15-24 | 220 | 111 | |
| 25-34 | 700 | 315 | |
| 35-44 | 870 | 205 | |
| 45-54 | 1,852 | 366 | |
| 55-64 | 1,475 | 464 | |
| 65-74 | 788 | 280 | |
| 75+ | 256 | 74 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Eyeball | Foreign Body | |
| Foot | Other | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Toe | Fracture | |
| Lower Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Leg | Hematoma |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
54 YOM C/O WRIST INJURY S/P FELL OFF BUFFER MACHINE. DX: WRIST INJURY
29YOF TO ER FOR PAIN OF NECK & RIGHT KNEE, PT WAS SHOPPING & A EMPLOYEE OF THE STORE WAS USING A FLOOR WAXER & HE LOST CONTROL OF WAXER THAT HIT PT, PT STUMBLED, NO FALL LATER HAD KNEE PAIN NECK PAIN DX ACUTE PAIN RIGHT KNEE, NECK PAIN
53YOM.WHILE USING FLOOR POLISHER PARTICLE FELL ON EYE.DX.FOREIGN BODY LT.EYE
48YOM.USING FLOOR POLISHER ACCIDETALLY INJURED FINGER.DX.FRAX.LT.3RD.FINGER
69 YOM C/O PAIN LEFT HIP AFTER FALL WHILE USING A BUFFER TO CLEAN THE FLOOR, DX; ARTHRALGIA
74YOF PRESENST TO ED FOR CO CHEST PAIN PTW AS CLEANING A FLOOR WITH A BUFFER AND IT BEGAN TO LOSE CONTROL SHE LET GO OF IT BUT IT KNOCKED HER OVER AND LANDED ON HER CHEST DX: CONTUSION OF RIGHT CHEST WALL
59YOM.WHILE USING FLOOR POLISHER CUT HAND.DX.LAC.LT.HAND
20MOM WAS IN A PUBLIC AREA AND WALKED INTO THE PATH OF A FLOOR SCRUBBER AND IT HIT HIS LEFT ANKLE DX: LACERATION TO ANKLE
51YOF.USING FLOOR POLISHER CUT FINGER.DX.LAC.LT.2ND,FINGER.
72YOM WAS USING A FLOOR BUFFING MACHINE AT HOME WHEN HE SLIPPED AND FELL DX: FRACTURE TO LEFT FOREARM
42YOM HAD A FLOOR BUFFER FALL ONTO HIS RIGHT FOOT DX: RIGHT SECOND TOE INJURY
45YOM LAC TO L FOOT ON A CEMENT BUFFER WHEN NOT WEARING SHOES OR BOOTSDX LAC L FOOT
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to floor buffers or waxers on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are floor buffers or waxers?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, floor buffers or waxers have a danger score of 27/100 (low risk). An estimated 425 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from floor buffers or waxers?
The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 951 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from floor buffers or waxers increasing or decreasing?
Down 43% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for floor buffers or waxers injuries?
The 45-54 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 2,218 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by floor buffers or waxers?
Of all ER visits involving floor buffers or waxers, approximately 3.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (96.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with floor buffers or waxers?
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 Laundry & Household Appliances
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 27/100 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 45-54 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.
