CPSC NEISS · code 420

Manual Scissors

Manual Scissors: danger rank #419 of 838 is not ER-volume rank #195 of 838 (11,091 estimated ER visits a year; declining by about 27% over the last five years).

Containers, Tableware & Packaging CPSC NEISS through 2024

Danger score versus ER volume

Danger score versus ER volume

According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Manual Scissors ranks #419 of 838 by danger score (35/100) at ER-volume #195 of 838 (11,091/yr). They are not the same ranking.

#419
danger rank of 838
#195
ER-volume rank of 838
35/100
danger score
11,091/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 (35/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories

35 Lower than most lower than 50% 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: 37/100

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.

B
Dimension Value National percentile Weight applied Source
Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) 2 10th 35% CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index
Annual ER injury volume 11,091 75th 30% CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries
5-year injury trend -27% 24th 15% CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries
Consumer incident reports 6 37th 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 221,856 estimated ER injuries land on the body

Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 420. Segments sum to 221,856 - 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 Containers, Tableware & Packaging 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.

Containers, Tableware & Packaging danger scores

1. Waste Containers, Trash B…45/1002. Knives, Not Elsewhere Cla…44/1003. Drinking Glasses, Cups, A…42/1004. Cookware, Not Specified42/1005. Manual Cleaning Equipment…41/1006. Kitchen Gadgets, Not Else…41/1007. Unpowered Coffee Makers O…41/1008. Manual Scissors35/100
Higher score = higher composite danger in this group. Peer set is other scored products sharing the same CPSC group.
0/100100/10035/100
PlainSafety danger score · Manual Scissors

Source: CPSC NEISS danger-score model As of 2024

How this 35/100 score is built

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

  • Injury volume 11,091 ER visits/yr High volume
  • Severity (hospitalization rate) 1.5% Low admission rate
  • Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
  • 5-year trend-27%

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 manual scissors are declining by about 27% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2006 (15,955 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2024 (6,027 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 113,975 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the hand (28,165 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 56,025 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 1.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.

Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 6 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how manual scissors 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)

5K10K15K20K 20052008201120142017202020232024 6K
Estimated annual emergency-room visits for Manual Scissors, 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 13,336 10,664 24,000
5-14 29,643 26,311 56,025
15-24 14,024 19,262 33,286
25-34 8,348 15,132 23,480
35-44 7,611 14,029 21,640
45-54 6,335 12,655 18,990
55-64 7,000 12,024 19,024
65-74 5,979 7,990 13,969
75+ 4,179 7,227 11,406

Most Common Injuries

Body Part Diagnosis Est. Injuries
Finger Laceration 113,975
Hand Laceration 28,165
Finger Avulsion 7,604
Face Laceration 5,556
Lower Arm Laceration 5,543
Ear Laceration 4,144
Foot Laceration 3,959
Hand Puncture 3,445
Upper Leg Laceration 3,228
Eyeball Contusions, Abr. 3,223
Mouth Laceration 3,211
Wrist Laceration 3,051
Lower Leg Laceration 2,806
Toe Laceration 2,564
Finger Puncture 1,995

Severity Breakdown

Treated/examined And Released 97.2% (215,600)
Left Without Being Seen 1.2% (2,648)
Treated And Admitted/hospitalized 1.0% (2,283)
Treated And Transferred 0.4% (992)
Held For Observation 0.2% (333)

ER Visit Narratives

Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.

Age 4 · Female · Ear · Laceration · 2024

4YOF PRESENTS FROM SCHOOL AFTER BEING CUT ON HER LEFT EAR WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS BY ANOTHER STUDENT DX: LEFT EAR LACERATION

Age 13 · Male · Toe · Laceration · 2024

13YOM STEPPED ON A SCISSORS THAT WAS ON THE FLOOR AND CUT HIS TOE DX LACERATION TO TOE

Age 45 · Female · Eyeball · Contusions, Abr. · 2024

45YOF WAS TRYING TO CUT HER EYEBROW HAIR AND ACCIDENTALLY POKED LEFT EYE WITH THE SCISSORS DX: CORNEAL ABRASION

Age 28 · Female · Upper Leg · Laceration · 2024

^28YOF TO ER FOR LACERATION TO RIGHT HIGH, PT WAS CUT ON SCISSORS THAT WERE IN THE POCKET OF HER CAR DOOR & WERE POINTED OUTWARD & PT SUSTAINED LACERATION TO THE RIGHT THIGH, PT NEEDS TETNUS, OCCURED 1 HR AGO DX LACERATION OF RIGHT THIGH

Age 53 · Male · Toe · Laceration · 2024

53YOM WITH CUTTING TOE WITH SCISSORS DX: LAC TO TOE

Age 223 · Male · Mouth · Laceration · 2024

23MOM TO ER W/ MOM AFTER PT ACCIDENTAL CUT HIS LIP W/ PAIR OF SCISSORS AT HOME, MOM & PT LEFT W/O COMPLETING SERVICE DX LWCS

Age 8 · Male · Face · Laceration · 2024

8YOM ACCIDENTALLY POKED HIS LEFT EYELID WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS DX: LACERATION EYELID

Age 38 · Female · Finger · Laceration · 2024

38YOF C/O FINGER LACERATION S/P PT CUT HER FINGER WITH A PAIR OF HAIR SCISSORS. DX: FINGER LACERATION

Age 47 · Female · Finger · Laceration · 2024

47YOF WITH LAC TO FINGER FROM SCISSORS DX: LAC TO FINGER

Age 32 · Male · Mouth · Avulsion · 2024

32YOM WAS GETTING HIS HAIR CUT WHEN HE GOT KNICKED ON THE UPPER LIP BY A PAIR OF SCISSORS AND SUSTAINED AN AVULSION THAT GOT INFECTED DX: CELLULITIS TO LIP

Age 7 · Male · Finger · Laceration · 2024

7YOM, ACCIDENTALLY GOT HIS FINGER ON A PAIR OF SCISSORS WHILE WORKING ON A SCHOOL PROJECT, DX: LACERATION OF LEFT INDEX FINGER WITHOUT DAMAGE TO NAIL

Age 30 · Female · Finger · Laceration · 2024

30YOF WAS HANDLING A CLEAN PAIR OF MANUAL SCISSORS AND ACCIDENTALLY CUT LEFT INDEX FINGER DX: LACERATION TO FINGER

Consumer Incident Reports

Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.

8/31/2015 · Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received · School Specialty Inc. · Florida

This caller is a safety technician with a school where a kindergartner cut off the end of his index finger of his left hand using school scissors item# unavailable Serial# 358613060. These scissors were purchased by the parents of the child and sold as approved for pre-K. The caller states that the end of the scissors are rounded but per his observation the cutting portion is very sharp. The caller does not know how much of the index finger was cut off, only that it was the end of the finger. On August 25th, 2015 the child was cutting paper during a supervised student activity to cut shapes and add them up while learning Math. The child was taken to St. Mary's emergency room in West Palm Beach, FL by his parents who then contacted the school to request the portion of the finger that was cut off but all the school found was a nail and some flesh that could be immediately identified by sight as the tip of a finger. The caller believes that the parents picked this finger part up for the emergency room. The child was back in school the following day. The manufacturer has not been contacted and if a claim is filed then an administrator will contact them.

5/4/2022 · Incident, No Injury · Danco Sports Inc · Maryland

I purchased a pair of Danco Sports, INC. "Colored Bait Shears". on the first use out of the package, the shears came apart. One of the blades fell onto my shoe and pierced the shoe. There is a hole in my shoe. This poses a serious possibility of injury.

10/25/2022 · Incident, No Injury · FISKARS · Ohio

Fiskars Folding Scissors do not move the way they are supposed to: one side moves, the other does not, then when I try to close them, the blades move out toward the side that will not move. THen the scissors will not close to the safety position.

1/28/2019 · Incident, No Injury · Helen of Troy · Unspecified

i have an oxo scissors. This scissors come apart so you can clean it. However, i was holding the scissors and it came apart and it fell. It almost hit my daughter. This product should be recalled. scissor's edge is very sharp and it could've caused a serious damage if it fell on my daugher.

1/28/2017 · Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received · ZWILLING · Michigan

JA Henckels Poultry Shears serrated blade broke off at the pin and flew toward me cutting my hand and foot. I was using them to cut some soft flower stems. I have photos. I am very concerned about this - the injury could have been more serious

1/14/2013 · Injury, First Aid Received by Non-Medical Professional · FISKARS · California

My daughter was using Fiskar's blunt tip child's safety scissors and she cut the tip of her finger off.

Product Recalls

Search for active and past recalls related to manual scissors on the CPSC website.

Compare beyond Containers, Tableware & Packaging

Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization

Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Manual Scissors: cross-group products nearest on danger score (35/100), estimated annual ER visits (11,091/yr), and hospitalization share (1.5%). 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, Manual Scissors ranks #419 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #195 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does manual scissors rank on danger score versus ER volume?

Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, manual scissors ranks #419 by PlainSafety danger score (35/100) and #195 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (11,091/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.

What are the most common injuries from manual scissors?

The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 113,975 injuries over 20 years.

Are injuries from manual scissors increasing or decreasing?

Down 27% over 5 years.

Who is most at risk for manual scissors injuries?

The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 56,025 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.

What happens when someone is injured by manual scissors?

Of all ER visits involving manual scissors, approximately 1.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (98.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.

How can I report a safety problem with manual scissors?

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 Manual Scissors 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.