CPSC NEISS · code 627

Light Bulbs

Light Bulbs: danger rank #313 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #181 of 838 (12,081 estimated ER visits a year; declining by about 33% over the last five years).

Home Furnishings & Fixtures CPSC NEISS through 2024

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Light Bulbs ranks #313 of 838 by danger score (37/100) at ER-volume #181 of 838 (12,081/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#313
danger rank of 838
#181
ER-volume rank of 838
37/100
danger score
12,081/yr
estimated ER visits (avg)

Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.

Where this category's danger score sits nationally

Danger score (37/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

37 Around the middle lower than 37% of 838 product categories

scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2024

Composite verdict

Composite Safety Score: 64/100

One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.

D
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 6 53rd 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 12,081 76th 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend -33% 19th 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 840 100th 20% CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count

Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.

Where 241,650 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 627. Segments sum to 241,650 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.

Two danger lenses

Same-group peer scores and this product's dial

The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Home Furnishings & Fixtures group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.

Home Furnishings & Fixtures danger scores

1. Toilets57/1002. Rugs Or Carpets, Not Spec…50/1003. Bathtubs Or Showers50/1004. Recliner Chair49/1005. Sofas, Couches, Davenport…47/1006. Blankets, Not Specified46/1007. Hot Tubs Or Home Spas45/1008. Light Bulbs37/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10037/100
PlainSafety danger score · Light Bulbs

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

How this 37/100 score is built

The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for light bulbs - no opinion, no editorializing:

  • Injury volume 12,081 ER visits/yr High volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 6.2% Above median admission rate
  • Fatality rate 0.01% Low fatality rate
  • 5-year trend-33%

Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.

What the CPSC Data Shows

Across the 20-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2024, injury counts for light bulbs are declining by about 33% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2017 (15,140 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2022 (7,516 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 31,109 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the hand (19,386 cases). The 25-34 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 31,488 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 6.2% 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 840 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how light bulbs 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)

6K8K10K12K14K16K 20052008201120142017202020232024 9K
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Light Bulbs, CPSC NEISS

Source: CPSC NEISS national injury estimates As of 2024

Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only

Who Gets Injured?

Age Group Male Female Total
0-4 18,785 11,170 29,955
5-14 15,969 10,768 26,737
15-24 18,947 9,428 28,375
25-34 18,909 12,579 31,488
35-44 18,000 11,800 29,800
45-54 18,598 11,858 30,456
55-64 14,825 10,543 25,368
65-74 11,856 7,965 19,821
75+ 11,742 7,888 19,630

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Finger Laceration 31,109
Hand Laceration 19,386
Foot Laceration 9,046
Head Internal Injury 8,172
Hand Burns, Thermal 7,813
Head Laceration 6,947
Eyeball Foreign Body 6,434
Lower Arm Laceration 6,374
Internal Ingestion 6,366
Face Laceration 5,948
Eyeball Contusions, Abr. 5,449
Finger Burns, Thermal 4,066
Foot Foreign Body 4,045
Lower Trunk Contusions, Abr. 4,018
Lower Trunk Fracture 3,998

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 92.7% (224,029)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 4.9% (11,778)
Left Without Being Seen 1.2% (2,782)
Treated And Transferred 0.9% (2,099)
Held For Observation 0.4% (946)
Fatality Incl. Doa, Died In Er 0.0% (16)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 31 · Female · Foot · Puncture · 2024

31 YOF INJ RT FOOT STEPPED ON PIECE OF BROKEN LIGHTBULB AT HOME DX PUNCTURE WOUND RT FOOT W/FB

Age 42 · Male · Face · Foreign Body · 2024

42 YOM C/O INJ TO FACE/HAND/FOOT FROM A BROKEN LED LIGHT BULB AT HOME DX FB/PUNCTURE WOUNDS TO CHEEK, HAND AND FOOT -REMOVED GLASS

Age 13 · Male · Toe · Laceration · 2024

13 YOM HERE AFTER A LIGHT BULB FELL AND CUT HIS RIGHT LITTLE TOE. DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT LITTLE TOE

Age 53 · Male · Eyeball · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

53YOM WITH EYE DISCOMFORT AND COUGH. ONE OF THE LARGE INDUSTRIAL FLUORESCENT BULBS HAD DROPPED. HE ATTEMPTED TO STOP IT FROM FALLING AND IT EXPLODED AND FELT LIKE A FOREIGN BODY IN HIS RIGHT EYE. ALSO COUGH AND SENSATION IN CHEST. DX: CORNEAL ABRASION, INHALATION OF NOXOIUS FUMES

Age 30 · Male · Internal · Aspiration · 2024

30YOM PATIENT MAY HAVE INHALED GLASS INTO HIS NOSE, HE SAID HE DROPPED A LIGHT BULB ON THE GROUND, POSSIBLE GLASS INGESTION DX: ACUTE MAXILLARY SINUSITIES

Age 49 · Male · Hand · Laceration · 2024

49YOM REPORTS HE WAS DRINKING HEAVILY AND CUT HIS HAND WHILE TRYING TO SCREW IN A LIGHT BULB. BAC NOT DONE. DX HAND LACERATION, ALCOHOL INTOXICASTION.

Age 15 · Male · Finger · Laceration · 2024

15YOM REPORTS HE WAS CARRYING A BOX OF LIGHTBULBS AND PUSHED THE BOX AGAINST A WALL FOR LEVERAGE AND THE GLASS SHATTERED CUTTING HIS FINGER. DX FINGER LACERATION

Age 68 · Male · Elbow · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

68YOM PATIENT WAS CHANGING A LIGHT BULB IN HIS HOME WHEN HE FELL TO THE GROUND HAD SYNCOPAL EPISODE, ELBOW PAIN DX: CONTUSION OF RIGHT ELBOW

Age 25 · Male · Hand · Laceration · 2024

25YOM PRESENTS AFTER HE CUT HIS RIGHT HAND ON AN AUTO BULB DX: LACERATION OF HAND, RIGHT

Age 60 · Male · Lower Arm · Laceration · 2024

60YOM STRUCK HIS LEFT FOREARM ON THE EDGE OF A FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULB CAUSING A LACERATION DX: LACERATION OF LEFT FOREARM

Age 10 · Male · Finger · Laceration · 2024

10YOM C/O LACERATION OF RIGHT INDEX FINGER S/P PT STATES HE HURT HIS FINGER ON A BROKEN LIGHT BULB. DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT INDEX FINGER

Age 45 · Male · Internal · Ingestion · 2024

45YOM WAS EATING A TACO THAT HE GOT AT A MEXICAN FOOD TRUCK AND THERE WAS A PIECE OF GLASS IN IT FROM A BROKEN LIGHT BULB DX: FOREIGN BODY INGESTION

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

9/9/2011 · Incident, No Injury · GE Appliances & Lighting · Texas

The compact fluorescent light bulb by GE began to flash, with the light switch in the off position. We removed the cover from the fixture and removed the light bulb, we discovered that the fixture and the wiring was scorched. Please note that the light switch has a l.e.d. light that is lit when the switch is in the off position. The light bulb was purchased less than two weeks ago. The bar code for this light bulb pack is 4316871284 Res. # 9643570

9/9/2011 · Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received · The Home Depot · Washington

daylight Compact FLuorescent bulbs exploded in the car in the home driveway. 52 yof sustained knee laceration due to the explosion.

9/8/2012 · Injury, Level of care not known · LOTSTAR LED LIGHTING LTD · California

I replaced 7 normal recessed bulbs with ecoBrites 7" Dimmable 7x1wHi-Performance PAR30 LED. Within about 3 weeks, while eating dinner, I noticed one bulb flicker and then burn out. I turned the light switch off then on again but the bulb did not light up. Something seemed odd about it and I took a flashlight to shine on the base of the bulb. The area looked smokey so my husband tried to remove the bulb and burned his hand. We did get it out but the base of the bulb had melted - about a one and a half inch area. I am sure my house would have burned down had I not noticed this right away and taken action. I have reported this to the ecoBrite website because I want them to know about this.

9/7/2019 · Incident, No Injury · MaxLite Inc. · Wisconsin

LED light bulb started on fire in a light fixture. LED lamp: MaxLite 9A19ND27P LED lamp 4SFO E349554 16I110115 Floor Lamp: [REDACTED]

9/7/2011 · Incident, No Injury · Walmart Stores Inc. · West Virginia

Consumer stated that his spiral fluorescent light bulb, inserted in a lamp burned up inside of the ceiling fixture in his kitchen. The consumer was getting ready to leave his home when he heard a loud popping noise from the kitchen. The consumer had came back to the kitchen to find the bulb had popped and the light bulb was hanging from the wires exposed. The consumer's brother in law shut off the power to the fixture and replaced with a common filament light bulb. The consumer is unsure if his bulb is similar to spiral bulbs that have been recalled and is not sure if it has not been recalled. The bulb has cinge marks and blackening at the base. The bulb emitted a burning smell of a fire and did not actually see any flames from the light bulb. The consumer decided not to call the fire department at the time of the incident. The bulb is 23 watts, 330AMPS and 120 volts. The light bulb had not flickered just before the incident. The consumer mentioned that he had the bulb in the fixture for 4 months and the bulb was on for 8-10 hours. The consumer has yet to call the retailer . The consumer called the firm yesterday and stated that they would call him back and they did not. The consumer called the firm today to inform them of what happened and was told to submit the bulb in a package back to the firm. The consumer intends to send the bulb back after he takes photographs of the bulb. The damage of the product did not spread to the structure of her home. The light bulb did not burn the light fixture in which in the bulb was inserted. The consumer was not harmed by the product.

9/6/2022 · Incident, No Injury · Feit Electric Company, Inc. · Tennessee

Feit Electric LED light bulb - model number CEOM60/927/LED6 Lot number 256-18-01 This is a bulb that was installed in a vanity fixture in a bathroom over a sink controlled by a single, non-dimming switch. I believe it to be less than a year old, but not certain when it was purchased or installed. Light was used about 3-4 hours a day So far only one has failed, but I am very concerned about the failure mode. The light bulb flickered of and on twice and then began to smoke horribly. I turned off the switch and removed the bulb from service. If I had not been in the room, I believe this would have become a house fire.

9/5/2012 · Incident, No Injury · NASH-FINCH COMPANY · Ohio

The caller reported that the consumer placed the bulb into a lamp, it blew out and caught the lamp on fire. There were no property damages just the lamp shade. The consumer was able to put the fire out by throwing water on it. There was a fire report. The caller was advised to report the incident to the agency.

9/4/2024 · Incident, No Injury · Walmart Stores Inc. · Florida

Great Value LED Light Bulb, 15W (100W Equivalent) 18Y, A19 General Purpose Lamp E26 Medium Base, Non-dimmable, Daylight, 4-Pack started a fire in both our bathroom fixtures. We were able to stop the fire and remove all the existing bulbs from the home.

Showing 8 of 840 reports.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to light bulbs on the CPSC website.

Compare beyond Home Furnishings & Fixtures

Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization

Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Light Bulbs: cross-group products nearest on danger score (37/100), estimated annual ER visits (12,081/yr), and hospitalization share (6.2%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.

Read with this product

About this data

CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.

According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Light Bulbs ranks #313 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #181 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does light bulbs rank on danger score versus ER volume?

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, light bulbs ranks #313 by PlainSafety danger score (37/100) and #181 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (12,081/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

What are the most common injuries from light bulbs?

The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 31,109 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from light bulbs increasing or decreasing?

Down 33% over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for light bulbs injuries?

The 25-34 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 31,488 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by light bulbs?

Of all ER visits involving light bulbs, approximately 6.2% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (93.8%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with light bulbs?

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.

Data on Light Bulbs is compiled directly from CPSC NEISS and SaferProducts.gov records, current through 2024. See our methodology for details.

Disclaimer: This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.

PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.