Outdoor Electric Lighting Equipment
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.
Lawn & Garden Equipment · CPSC Code 1452
Up 25% over 5 years
The verdict
Outdoor Electric Lighting Equipment carry a danger score of 36/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 782 ER-treated injuries a year that are rising by about 25% over the last five years.
- 36/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 782
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 9.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 75+
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1452 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 36/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for outdoor electric lighting equipment - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume782 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)9.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend+25%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Outdoor Electric Lighting Equipment (CPSC product code 1452, in the Lawn & Garden Equipment category) generate an estimated 782 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 15,643 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 36/100 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 25% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2024 (1,855 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2006 (426 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for outdoor electric lighting equipment is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 1,451 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the face (830 cases). The 75+ age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 2,523 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 9.1% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 87 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how outdoor electric lighting equipment 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 | 851 | 425 | |
| 5-14 | 908 | 485 | |
| 15-24 | 1,568 | 443 | |
| 25-34 | 1,058 | 480 | |
| 35-44 | 1,204 | 733 | |
| 45-54 | 923 | 1,031 | |
| 55-64 | 725 | 721 | |
| 65-74 | 798 | 772 | |
| 75+ | 638 | 1,885 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Upper Trunk | Fracture | |
| Foot | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Fracture | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| All Parts Body | Electric Shock | |
| Neck | Strain, Sprain | |
| Knee | Laceration | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Lower Arm | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
22YOM FOR HEADACHE, NECK PAIN. PT WAS DRIVING IN A DEALERSHIP LOT & DROVE CAR BY ACCIDENT INTO A CONCRETE LAMP POST, RESULTING IN AB DEPLOYMENT. NO LOC. WAS RESTRAINED.AFTER BECAME MORE DIZZY, MORE HEADACHE, NAUSEA, VAGUE BLURRY VISION BILATERALLY.ALSO SEVERE NECK PAIN W/INABILITY TO MOVE NECK LEFT&RIGHT.ALSO HAS BURN R FOREARM W/PAIN OVERLYING THE ARM. DX: CONCUSSION; NECK STRAIN
72YOF HIT LIGHT POLE AND TREE PULLING INTO PARKING LOT. DX: MVA RESTRAINED DRIVER; ACUTE POST-TRAUMATIC HEADACHE, NOT INTRACTABLE; MUSCULOSKELETAL NECK PAIN; HEMATOMA OF FOREARM.
23MOF STEPPED ON AN OUTSIDE LIGHT. DX: FOOT PUNCTURE
75 YOF C/O SHOULDER FRACTURE S/P FALL WHILE TRYING TO FIX A SOLAR LIGHT AT HOME. DX: SHOULDER FRACTURE
77YOM PRESENTS TO THE ED AFTER THE PATIENT TRIPPED, FELL OVER GARDEN LIGHT COMPLAINING OF STRIKING HEAD. GIVEN 10MG MORPHINE AND 4MG *** EN ROUTE. DX: HIP FRACTURE
74 YOM TRIPPED OVER THE BASE OF A STREET LAMP WHILE WALKING DOWNTOWN AND FELL STRIKING HIS HEAD/FACE OFF THE CONCRETE. HE CUT HIS RIGHT HAND. DX SUBDURAL HEMATOMA, NASAL BONE FX
74YOF C/O ACUTE PAIN OF LEFT KNEE WITH RIB PAIN S/P PT STATES SHE WAS WALKING TO HER NEIGHBORS, TURNED AROUND AND TRIPPED OVER A YARD LIGHT, CAUSING HER TO FALL ONTO HER LEFT SIDE. DX: ACUTE PAIN OF LEFT KNEE; RIB PAIN; FALL
73YOM PT BENT OVER TRYING TO PLACE AN OUTDOOR SOLAR LIGHT IN THE GROUND; LIGHT BROKE & PT FELL FORWARD; CAUGHT RT ARM BETWEEN DECK RAILING, TWISTED DX: FALL, RUPTURED BICEPS TENDON
71 YOF TRIPPED OVER A SOLAR LIGHT IN HER YARD EARLIER TODAY. DX: FRACTURE PROXIMAL END OF LEFT HUMERUS
51YOF PRESENTS WITH FACE PAIN AFTER A TRIP AND FALL OVER BRICKS ON THE STREET AND HITTING HER HEAD ON A LAMP POST. DX: FALL
26YOM TRIPPED OVER A DECORATIVE LAMP LAYING ON GROUND AT CONSTRUCTION SITE, DX: LACERATION TO RLE
58YOM HIT HEAD ON MOUNTED LAMP/ LAMP POST OUTSIDE STORE DX: HEADACHE
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
On 8/28/17 our solar motion light caught on fire.62 LED Solar Light, Perfectday 62 LED Outdoor Wireless Solar Powered Motion Sensor Light Ponds Accent Lighting Decor Lamp with Three Intelligent Modes Sold by: FINY PRODUCTS It caught on fire while mounted under our gutter then fell to the flower bed and caught a rose bush on fire.
This caller is reporting a solar LED light manufactured by manufacturer in Fairfield, NJ, 1 that she purchased around May or June 2017 from where she believes was Shop-co in Manistique, MI. The Insurance She had the light sticking on her screen door to provide additional light. She said that Sunday, September 10, 2017 a young man driving past her home with his wife stopped, knocked on her window and informed her that her porch was on fire. He asked if she had a fire extinguisher but settled for the garden hose to extinguish the fire. The fire department verified that the fire had been extinguished completely. There are no injuries being reported She has not at this time contacted the manufacturer but she does intend to contact them.
I had an Everbrite solar light on my deck that exploded and burst into flames burning the deck.
outdoor flood light, halogen, glass bezel fell off and broke on ground. Suffered minor laceration
The consumer indicates that his outdoor lights are supposed to be waterproof, however every time it rains, water seeps into it and the lights start blinking. The consumer received an electric shock when he touched the unit to try and reprogram it. When the water dries out a few days later then the unit starts working for a certain time before eventually they quit. The consumer sent the firm an e-mail indicating the issue he experienced but he has yet to hear from them. The consumer states that he had the same lights that the company replaced six months ago because he was having the same issues with them. The consumer believes the lights pose a fire hazard because they tripped his circuit breaker before. The consumer plans on keeping his outdoor lights for at least the next thirty days in case an investigation ensues.
Two wall mounted exterior lanterns which had fire/shortage causing circuit breaker trip, smoke and electric fire smell. Occurred when lights were turned on. They were on same switch but issue occurred on each lantern separately (March 2012 and August 2012). First incident homeowner wasn't home when incident occurred but appeared as if there had been a fire in the lantern. Second incident occurred with direct observation of smoke (no flames).
Purchased Bel Air Lighting 15 3/4" lighting fixtures and installed them myself. Each time I attempted to turn the light on, it tripped the breaker, indicating an internal short. There were no fires and no injuries.
we bought a "Beyond Bright x3 motion activated solar flood light" from Home Depot , on 7/23/2022. It was installed a few days later. about 2 days after installation (in accordance with the company instructions) the light had exploded and caught on fire!!! It had burned the side of the Pergola it was installed on, and the pergola roof caught on fire. fortunately one of my kids noticed and called me. I was able to extinguish the fire before it made any more damage. luckily there was no human nearby so no body damage occurred.
Showing 8 of 87 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to outdoor electric lighting equipment on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are outdoor electric lighting equipment?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, outdoor electric lighting equipment have a danger score of 36/100 (low risk). An estimated 782 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from outdoor electric lighting equipment?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 1,451 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from outdoor electric lighting equipment increasing or decreasing?
Up 25% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for outdoor electric lighting equipment injuries?
The 75+ age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 2,523 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by outdoor electric lighting equipment?
Of all ER visits involving outdoor electric lighting equipment, approximately 9.1% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (90.9%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with outdoor electric lighting equipment?
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 Lawn & Garden Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 36/100 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 75+ 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.