Lockers
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 Medical & Assistance Devices · CPSC Code 1726
Down 46% over 5 years
The verdict
Lockers carry a danger score of 32/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 7,950 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 46% over the last five years.
- 32/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 7,950
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 1.2%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1726 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 32/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for lockers - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume7,950 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)1.2%
- Fatality rate0.01%
- 5-year trend-46%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Lockers (CPSC product code 1726, in the Home Medical & Assistance Devices category) generate an estimated 7,950 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 158,992 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 declining by about 46% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2011 (11,586 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2021 (2,960 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for lockers is contusions, abr. to the hand, accounting for approximately 24,526 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by fracture to the hand (13,838 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 82,380 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 1.2% 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 1 consumer incident report filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how lockers 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 | 1,200 | 610 | |
| 5-14 | 46,566 | 35,814 | |
| 15-24 | 37,818 | 21,238 | |
| 25-34 | 3,061 | 1,565 | |
| 35-44 | 2,398 | 962 | |
| 45-54 | 1,469 | 936 | |
| 55-64 | 1,396 | 1,166 | |
| 65-74 | 1,140 | 559 | |
| 75+ | 581 | 508 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Fracture | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Finger | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Finger | Fracture | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Hand | Other | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Finger | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Other | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Strain, Sprain |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
18YOM PRESENTS WITH RIGHT HAND PAIN AFTER HE BECAME UPSET AND PUNCHED HIS LOCKER 7 TIMES. HAS A SUPERFICIAL ABRASION TO THE RIGHT PINKY FINGER. DX: NONDISPLACED FRACTURE OF SHAFT OF FIFTH METACARPAL BONE, RIGHT HAND
15YOM PRESENTS AFTER SLAMMED HIS LEFT MIDDLE FINGER IN HIS LOCKER AT SCHOOL DX: SUBUNGUAL HEMATOMA OF DIGIT OF HAND
19YOM P/W TRAUMA TO RT FOOT, PT WAS MOVING LOCKER AND IT FELL ON HIS LEG, C/O ANKLE PAIN, DX:FOOT PAIN, LEG PAIN
16YOF PATIENT WAS PUSHED INTO A LOCKER HITTING HER HEAD WHILE AT SCHOOL DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY, LEFT SIDED HEADACHE, CONCUSSION WITHOUT LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
14YOM FOOT PAIN AFTER KICKING A SCHOOL LOCKER DX: INJURY OF RIGHT FOOT
19YOM PRESENTS AFTER HE WAS UPSET LAST NIGHT, HIT / PUNCHED A LOCKER MULTIPLE TIMES WITH HIS LEFT HAND DX: CONTUSION OF LEFT HAND
12 YOF. LT KNEE INJURY AFTER CLASSMATE ACCIDENTALLY PUSHED THE PT INTO THE LT LOCKER & FELL TO THE GROUND HITTING HER LT KNEE. DX: INJURY OF LT KNEE
12 YOF PUNCHED A LOCKER AT SCHOOL IN ANGER, C/O PAIN LEFT HAND, DX: CONTUSION OF LEFT HAND
13 YOM WITH SEVERAL HOURS OF CONSTANT, SHARP, LEFT-SIDED BACK AND FLANK PAIN. SYMPTOMS STARTED WHEN HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO OPEN HIS LOCKER AT SCHOOL. DX BACK PAIN
25YOM STRUCK HIS HEAD ON A LOCKER. DX: CONCUSSION
11YOM PUNCHED A LOCKER INJURING HIS HAND DX: RT HAND FX
15YOF, TRIPPED AND FELL BACKWARDS AT SCHOOL STRIKING BACK AGAINST RUSTY LOCKER, HAS BACK PAIN, DX: BACK PAIN UNSPECIFIED
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
My son attends a preschool in [REDACTED]. On Friday, January 10th at approximately 10:30 am, the kids were in the hall getting their snow clothes on to go outside. My son and another little boy were trying to get my son's coat and snow pants off the hook of the lockers by pulling on them. The cabinet then tipped over. The other little boy was able to jump out of the way, but my son wasn't so lucky. The entire 105 pound cabinet tipped over and he was completely trapped underneath. The top of the cabinet hit the bridge of his nose and above his right eye. Ambulances were called and he was transported to the nearest hospital. He underwent a CT scan right away where they determined he broke his nose and needed surgery to set the bone and stitch him up. The school had a thorough safety investigation with the State of [REDACTED] and it was determined there was no safety violation. In fact, no licensed day care providers in [REDACTED] are required to anchor the cubbies to the wall. The licensing investigator does agree that this is a manufacturing issue. He is healing at this point, but he will have a scar on his nose and hopefully we will be able to address the scar tissue forming.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to lockers on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are lockers?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, lockers have a danger score of 32/100 (low risk). An estimated 7,950 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from lockers?
The most common injury is contusions, abr. to the hand, accounting for approximately 24,526 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from lockers increasing or decreasing?
Down 46% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for lockers injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 82,380 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by lockers?
Of all ER visits involving lockers, approximately 1.2% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (98.8%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with lockers?
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 Medical & Assistance Devices
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 5-14 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.
