Safety Pins
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.
Nursery & Baby Products · CPSC Code 1554
Down 44% over 5 years
The verdict
Safety Pins carry a danger score of 31/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 907 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 44% over the last five years.
- 31/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 907
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 9.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1554 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 31/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for safety pins - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume907 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)9.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-44%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Safety Pins (CPSC product code 1554, in the Nursery & Baby Products category) generate an estimated 907 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 18,147 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 31/100 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 44% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2015 (1,591 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2022 (435 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for safety pins is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 3,907 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by puncture to the foot (1,446 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 3,390 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 1 consumer incident report filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how safety pins 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 | 1,638 | 1,752 | |
| 5-14 | 852 | 2,088 | |
| 15-24 | 1,140 | 1,661 | |
| 25-34 | 1,100 | 1,560 | |
| 35-44 | 1,137 | 969 | |
| 45-54 | 847 | 1,069 | |
| 55-64 | 432 | 839 | |
| 65-74 | 345 | 299 | |
| 75+ | 211 | 210 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Foot | Puncture | |
| Finger | Other | |
| Finger | Puncture | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Foot | Foreign Body | |
| Hand | Puncture | |
| Face | Other | |
| Mouth | Other | |
| Hand | Other | |
| Mouth | Puncture | |
| Internal | Aspiration | |
| Ear | Other | |
| Mouth | Foreign Body |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
12YOF SWALLOWED A SAFETY PIN AT HOME DX: SWALLOWED FOREIGN BODY
45 YOF WITH POSSIBLE FOREIGN BODY SWALLOWED, STATES THAT SHE MAY HAVE SWALLOWED AN OPEN SAFETY PIN WHEN SHE ATE A SANDWICH YESTERDAY. DX FOREIGN BODY INTESTINE
32YOM PRESENTS WITH FACIAL SWELLING AFTER TRYING TO DRAIN AN ABSCESS WITH A SAFETY PIN TWO DAYS AGO. DX: FACIAL CELLULITIS.
73YOF STATES THAT SHE ACCIDENTALLY POKED HERSELF IN THE LEFT EYE WITH A SAFETY PIN NOW HAS PAIN DX: EYE PAIN
61 YOF CLEANING HER RECLINER AND A SAFETY PIN WENT THROUGH R MIDDLE FINGER DX; FOREIGN BODY
45 YOF NOTED AN ABSCESS OVER THE FIFTH DIGIT AND USED A SAFETY PIN TO POP IT YESTERDAY. SINCE THEN, THE WOUND HAS GOTTEN BIGGER. DX: CELLULITIS OF LITTLE FINGER, CELLULITIS AND ABSCESS OF FINGER
17YOF PT C/O SAFETY PIN STUCK IN LEFT FOOT; USED THEM TO COVER HER JEANS DX: FOREIGN BODY IN FOOT
78 YOF ACCIDENTALLY STUCK HER RIGHT HAND WITH A SAFETY PIN, SWELLING IMPROVED, BRUISING NOTED, DOES NOT TAKE BLOOD THINNERS, DX: PUNCTURE WOUND HAND
63YOF WAS USING A SAFETY PIN TO SEPARATE HER EYELASHES WHEN IT WENT INTO LEFT EYE DX: PUNCTURE WOUND TO EYE
60 YOF. IRRITATION TO THE LT EYE AFTER USING A SAFETY PIN TO SEPARATE SOME EYELASHES THAT WERE CAKED TOGETHER. DX: CORNEAL ABRASION
24YOF, WAS PUTTING ON MASCARA WHEN ONE OF HER EYELASHES GOT STUCK, ATTEMPTED TO FIX IT USING A SAFETY PIN AND ACCIDENTALLY STRUCK HER EYEBALL, DX: ABRASION OF LEFT CORNEA
5YOM PRESENTS WITH FOREIGN BODY INGESTION ~30-40MIN PTA. FATHER AT BEDSIDE STATES PT TOLD THEM HE HAD SWALLOWED A CLOSED SAFETY PIN SO BROUGHT HIM TO ED TO GET CHECKED OUT. XR SHOWING SAFETY PIN IN STOMACH, DX: FOREIGN BODY INGESTION
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
My dog was severely injured by safety pins used by Alo Yoga clothing store. The safety pins are flimsy and defective. Alo Yoga uses the safety pins to attach all their price tags to clothing. My dog ingested three safety pins that were on the ground of the store. Two of the safety pins opened up inside of him and he had emergency surgery and was hospitalized for 4 days. I learned this after I went back to the store to check and all the clothing has safety pins. I asked the salesgirl about it and she said, We have a problem with the safety pins falling off. I said what if a mother put her child on the floor and the child was hurt? She said they are not allowed to clean during the day when customers are in the store, and if they see a safety pin to pick them up. These safety pins are dangerous and Alo Yoga knows it. These safety pins should be recalled.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to safety pins on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are safety pins?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, safety pins have a danger score of 31/100 (low risk). An estimated 907 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from safety pins?
The most common injury is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 3,907 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from safety pins increasing or decreasing?
Down 44% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for safety pins injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 3,390 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by safety pins?
Of all ER visits involving safety pins, 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 safety pins?
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 Nursery & Baby Products
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 31/100 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 0-4 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.
