Ice Crushers
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.
Kitchen Cooking Appliances · CPSC Code 270
Up 45% over 5 years
The verdict
Ice Crushers carry a danger score of 27/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 69 ER-treated injuries a year that are rising by about 45% over the last five years.
- 27/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 69
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 0.7%
- end in hospital admission
- 45-54
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 270 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 27/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for ice crushers - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume69 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)0.7%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend+45%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Ice Crushers (CPSC product code 270, in the Kitchen Cooking Appliances category) generate an estimated 69 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 757 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. 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 rising by about 45% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2012 (167 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2021 (16 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for ice crushers is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 355 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by avulsion to the finger (232 cases). The 45-54 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 140 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 0.7% 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 17 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how ice crushers 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 | 5 | 0 | |
| 5-14 | 103 | 22 | |
| 15-24 | 0 | 90 | |
| 25-34 | 0 | 79 | |
| 35-44 | 138 | 0 | |
| 45-54 | 0 | 140 | |
| 55-64 | 72 | 0 | |
| 65-74 | 0 | 15 | |
| 75+ | 55 | 38 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Finger | Avulsion | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Laceration | |
| Finger | Amputation | |
| Hand | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
50 YOF WAS MANUALLY CRUSHING ICE LAST NIGHT WHEN SHE FELT A FOREIGN BODY SENSATION IN HER LEFT EYE AND DETERMINED AN ICE CHIP HIT HER EYE. DX: ABRASION OF LEFT CORNEA, LEFT EYE INJURY.
15YOF PRESENTS WITH MOM WITH COMPLAIT OF THUMB LACERATION. PATIENT STATES JUST PTA SHE CUT HER THUMB ON AN ICE SHAVING MACHINE. DX: THUMB LACERATION
10YOM PRESENTS WITH LACERATION AFTER PUTTING HAND ON ICE GRINDER WHILE ASSISTING TO MAKE SNOW CONES. DX: LACERATION OF NERVE OF FINGER
PATIENT STATES FELL BACKWARD IN THE KITCHEN AND HIT HEAD ON THE REFRIGERATOR LACERATION R PARIETAL 87YOLD MALE WHITE
72YOF WITH LACERATION TO FINGER AFTER CUTTING FINGER ON AN ICE CRUSHERDX LACERATION*
34 Y/O F CUT FINGER ON ICE CRUSHERLACERATION FINGER
61 YOM PUTTING SNOW CONE MACHINE TOGETHER, SLIPPED, CUT FINGER. DX FINGER AVULSION
46YOF AMP FINGERTIP IN ICE CRUSHER
43YOM USING AN ICE MACHINE DX AVULSION FINGER
9YOF USING ICE SHAVING MACHINE AT ASIAN FESTIVAL, GLOVE GOT CAUGHT IN MACHINE AND PULLED HAND IN CUTTING FINGER; FINGER AVULSION
80 YOWM SQUATTED DOWN WORKING ON REFRIGERATOR, LOST HIS BALANCE AND FELL BACKWARDS, HIT HEAD ON DISHWASHER. DX. SCALP LAC.
PT HAS LAC TO 3RD AND 4TH DIGITS FROM AN ICE CRUSHER
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to ice crushers on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are ice crushers?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, ice crushers have a danger score of 27/100 (low risk). An estimated 69 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from ice crushers?
The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 355 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from ice crushers increasing or decreasing?
Up 45% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for ice crushers injuries?
The 45-54 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 140 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by ice crushers?
Of all ER visits involving ice crushers, approximately 0.7% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (99.3%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with ice crushers?
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 Kitchen Cooking 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.
