Internal Combustion Engines (nonvehicular)
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 Communication & Entertainment · CPSC Code 820
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Internal Combustion Engines (nonvehicular) carry a danger score of 32/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 349 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 32/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 349
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 7.6%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 820 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 32/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume349 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)7.6%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend+0%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Internal Combustion Engines (nonvehicular) (CPSC product code 820, in the Home Communication & Entertainment category) generate an estimated 349 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 6,977 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 32/100 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 roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2013 (678 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2008 (182 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 1,094 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the hand (589 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 1,829 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 7.6% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 1 consumer incident report filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) 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 | 6 | 5 | |
| 5-14 | 235 | 0 | |
| 15-24 | 1,675 | 154 | |
| 25-34 | 1,671 | 60 | |
| 35-44 | 1,045 | 16 | |
| 45-54 | 821 | 95 | |
| 55-64 | 360 | 0 | |
| 65-74 | 665 | 0 | |
| 75+ | 171 | 0 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| All Parts Body | Anoxia | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| Finger | Crushing | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Face | Burns, Thermal | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Foot | Other | |
| Shoulder | Other | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Lower Leg | Burns, Thermal | |
| Elbow | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
63YOM PRESENTS FOR EVALUATION OF LEFT DISTAL THUMB INJURY SUSTAINED 1 WEEK AGO. PATIENT WAS WORKING ON AN ENGINE AND ACCIDENTLY SMASHED HIS THUMB BETWEEN 2 PIECES OF METAL. HE HAD A LACERATION WHICH HE CLEANED AT HOME AND HAS NOW DRIED UP INTO AN ABRASION. DX: FRACTURE THUMB DISTAL PHALANX NONDISPLACED CLOSED LEFT, LEFT FINGER INJURY.
29YOM REPORTS WITH HAND LACERATION WHEN WORKING ON AN ENGINE. DX LACERATION TO HAND
54 YOM WORKING ON AN ENGINE AND IT ELL ON R INDEX FINGER DX; CRUSH INJURY, HEMATOMA
24YOM, WORKING ON ENGINE, ANTIFREEZE BLEW UP IN FACE, REDNESS NOTED LEFT SIDE OF FACE DX: 1ST DEGREE THERMAL BURN LEFT SIDE OF FACE
42YOM, ACCIDENTALLY BURNED HIS RIGHT HAND ON A SMALL ENGINE EXHAUST, LWBS, NO DX
21YOM, REPORTS A MONTH AGO BURNT HIS LEFT FOREARM ON A HOT ENGINE COMPARTMENT SINCE THEN HAS BEEN HAVING WORSENING AREA OF WOUND AND NOW REPORTS WHITE DRAINAGE DX: SKIN INFECTION; BURN, LAMA
52 YOM INJURED FINGER, CRUSHED BY ENGINE. DX-LACERATION LEFT 5TH FINGER, FRACTURE LEFT 5TH FINGER
71 YOM WITH BACK PAIN AFTER STARTING A ENGINE WITH A PULL CORD DX: PAIN
39 YOM C/O FINGER FRACTURE AND FINGER LACERATION S/P CAUGHT FINGER IN AN ENGINE. DX: FINGER FRACTURE; FINGER LACERATION
25 YOM C/O FOOT PAIN S/P DROPPED AN ENGINE ON HIS FOOT. PATIENT LEFT WITHOUT COMPLETED SERVICES. DX: FOOT PAIN
31YOM PRESENTS WITH COMPLAINTS OF HAND INJURY AND LACERATION AFTER HE WAS TRYING TO GET A CAR ENGINE OUT OF SOMEWHERE WHEN HIS HAND GOT CRUSHED. DX: LACERATION OF LEFT HAND WITHOUT FOREIGN BODY.
60 YOM BURNED L HAND ON AN ENGINE DX; HAND BURN
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Piston shot through engine. Had all correct maintenance etc.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are internal combustion engines (nonvehicular)?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) have a danger score of 32/100 (low risk). An estimated 349 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from internal combustion engines (nonvehicular)?
The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 1,094 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for internal combustion engines (nonvehicular) injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 1,829 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by internal combustion engines (nonvehicular)?
Of all ER visits involving internal combustion engines (nonvehicular), approximately 7.6% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (92.4%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with internal combustion engines (nonvehicular)?
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 Communication & Entertainment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 32/100 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 15-24 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.
