Refrigerators
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.
Kitchen Cooking Appliances · CPSC Code 276
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Refrigerators carry a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk), driven by roughly 40,695 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 43/100
- danger score (moderate risk)
- 40,695
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 8.5%
- end in hospital admission
- 75+
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 276 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 43/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for refrigerators - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume40,695 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)8.5%
- Fatality rate0.02%
- 5-year trend-3%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Refrigerators (CPSC product code 276, in the Kitchen Cooking Appliances category) generate an estimated 40,695 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 813,909 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 43/100 for this category (moderate 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 2024 (46,869 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2006 (31,878 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for refrigerators is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 81,454 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by strain, sprain to the lower trunk (58,777 cases). The 75+ age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 131,344 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 8.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.02%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 3,417 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how refrigerators 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 | 25,657 | 18,881 | |
| 5-14 | 25,601 | 21,286 | |
| 15-24 | 69,417 | 36,512 | |
| 25-34 | 77,520 | 46,290 | |
| 35-44 | 70,521 | 41,878 | |
| 45-54 | 59,649 | 43,745 | |
| 55-64 | 38,842 | 36,950 | |
| 65-74 | 24,492 | 45,178 | |
| 75+ | 36,831 | 94,513 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Hand | Fracture | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Hand | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Fracture | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Shoulder | Strain, Sprain | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Hand | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
13 YOF FELL HIT HEAD ON REFRIGERATOR DX: HEAD INJURY
44 YOM INJURED UPPER ARM MOVING A REFRIGERATOR DX: STRAIN
76YOM WAS LIFTING A CASE OF BEER INTO HIS REFRIGERATOR WHEN HE HAD A SYNCOPAL EVENT AND FELL STRIKING HIS HEAD DX:CLOSED HEAD INJURY, ADMITTTED FOR SYNCOPY
61YOM FROM HOME HAD A TRIP AND FALL STRIKING CHEST ON A MINI REFRIGERATOR DX: CONTUSION TO RIBS
21YOF SLIPPED ON PUDDLE OF WATER ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR LEAKED OUT FROM UNDER REFRIGERATOR AND STUBBED LEFT THIRD TOE ON REFRIGERATOR DX:FRACTURED TOE
33YOF SUDDEN ONSET RIGHT LOW BACK PAIN AFTER LEANING FORWARD TO OPEN THE FREEZER ON HER REFRIGERATOR DX: BACK SPASM, LUMBOSACRAL STRAIN
48YOF,FOOT ACCIDENTALLY HIT BOTTOM OF REFRIGERATOR AN TOE BENT SIDEWAY,DX:TOE FX
71YOM SAYS HE SUSTAINED FALL AT HOME GETTING POP OUT OF FRIDGE & HE FELL BACKWARDS & HIT LOW BACK , PT WENT TO UC YESTERDAY FOR XRAY OF BACK & THEY SAID NO FRACTURES THEN DOCTOR CALLED HIM TODAY & SAID HE SHOULD GO TO ER , THAT HE HAS FRACTURE TO LUMBAR BACK DX FALL, CLOSED COMPRESSION FRACTURE L5 VERTABRA
76YOF PT REACHING INTO FRIDGE & TWISTED TO THE LEFT, DEVELOPED SEVERE LOW BACK PAIN DX: LOW BACK PAIN
78YOF HAD GROUND LEVEL FALL AT HOME IN KITCHEN, PT TRIPPED & HIT HEAD & NECK ON REFRIGERATOR , PTS DAUGHTER HEARD FALL & CAME TO PTS AID, PT RETURNED TO BASLINE W/ IN 60 SECONDS DX FALL
56YOM, HAS RESIDUAL ARM PAIN FROM RECENT MOTOR VEHICLE ACCIDENT WHICH WAS IMPROVING UNTIL YESTERDAY WHEN HE LIFTED UP A REFRIGERATOR AND FELT SUDDEN ONSET OF PAIN IN THE LEFT FOREARM, DX: MUSCLE STRAIN OF LEFT UPPER ARM; FOREARM TENDONITIS; SPONTANEOUS HEMATOMA FOREARM
35YOF, ACCIDENTALLY STUBBED TOE AGAINST THE FREEZER NOW THE NAIL IS LIFTED OFF IT'S BAD, DX: INJURY OF GREAT TOE NAIL
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
LG Refrigerator ice maker line freezes and causes leak. Damage to floor and leaks are as lip hazard and leaks to lower floor near electrical boxescan cause electrical damage. It has been repaired, but continues to happen due to no permanent fix from LG
My Samsung refrigerator has never worked properly and it has worked even less after a Samsung technician came and replaced the ice maker and twin cooling system. The refrigerator will not stay cold. Then, we started finding plastic pieces in our ice. These are pieces that have broken off inside the ice maker and are making it into our drinks. Thankfully the biggest piece was found in my drink and not one of my toddlers.
Within the first month of owning the refrigerator, it stopped maintaining the appropriate temperature. This has caused food to spoil on numerous occasions over the past few months, because the problem is repetitive. 9/7/2021: The consumer called the manufacturer and reported the matter to a rep. (name unavailable). That person told him that she would escalate this matter to a higher authority and placed him on hold. The consumer stayed on hold for 60 minutes, before hanging up. No one ever came back to the phone to speak with him. The refrigerator has 4 settings, but does not have a thermostat. The consumer said that the first 2 settings are useless. The 3rd setting is recommended by the manufacturer, in the owners manual. However, the 4th setting causes everything in the refrigerator to freeze. He believes that this presents the potential for salmonella. He paid [$1012.00] for the refrigerator
We purchased a Samsung Refrigerator a few years ago. This appliance has a manufacturers defect with the inside temperature along with a faulty icemaker that causes bad leaking. The outside computer screen tells us one temperature, but the actual temperature on the inside is much higher. Due to this defect, we have been consuming food that has spoiled, which has been causing us to get food poisoning. We have children in our household and this issue is very unsafe and cumbersome. With sickness and many dollars lost in groceries, I contacted Samsung and they said that the best thing that they can do is offer a free repair of our icemaker, which honestly is very disappointing and not as important as making sure our family is not consuming spoiled food!!! They claim that our refrigerator is out of warranty, but once again this is a known issue/nationwide recall with this manufacturers defect, and we should be fully refunded at this point.
We bought a Samsung refrigerator in 2015 that consistently builds up ice in the back panel until the fan can no longer move. At that point, the fridge temperatures rise to over 50 degrees, spoiling our food. Weve had to replace ice maker parts and the defrost temp sensor at hundreds of dollars of expense because the warranty is only good for one year. We also had to run the manual defrost on a weekly or even daily basis. Samsung has said they cannot help because it it is out of warranty, but they have thousands of customers reporting similar issues.
Our refrigerator was leaking. It does not maintain correct temperatures at all. It's only 3 years old, and if we leave it plugged in it works for several hours and then stops working. And then it gets scary...the door starts getting really hot, and we are afraid of an electrical fire. We are using it 'til the new fridge arrives by shutting it off at night & when we leave the house, and letting it rest periodically during the day. Samsung gave us terrible runaround and was of no help at all.
Samsung refrigerator has been constantly hovering around 46-50 degrees. The freezer section has also thawed all my food twice since July. One time was just after a major meat purchase
Bought a new Samsung refrigerator 2010 , since then I have had 2 service calls, and have had to defrost my fridge every month to keep the back panel from freezing. My refrigerator is constantly at 65 degrees. My grandchildren have gotten sick and I have lost so much money in food well over 500.00$. Under the crisper drawers always have water and leak on my floors. The system runs 24-7 which then ups my electricity bill. Im in the process of trying to find another company to come look at it, because no one wants to work on them.This is a defect in the appliance .
Showing 8 of 3,417 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to refrigerators on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are refrigerators?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, refrigerators have a danger score of 43/100 (moderate risk). An estimated 40,695 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from refrigerators?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 81,454 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from refrigerators increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for refrigerators injuries?
The 75+ age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 131,344 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by refrigerators?
Of all ER visits involving refrigerators, approximately 8.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (91.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with refrigerators?
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 Kitchen Cooking Appliances
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 43/100 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.