Slow Cookers
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 268
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Slow Cookers carry a danger score of 36/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 2,242 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 36/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 2,242
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 7.3%
- end in hospital admission
- 35-44
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 268 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 36/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for slow cookers - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume2,242 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)7.3%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-4%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Slow Cookers (CPSC product code 268, in the Kitchen Cooking Appliances category) generate an estimated 2,242 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 44,843 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 roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2023 (3,372 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2011 (987 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for slow cookers is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 3,261 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by contusions, abr. to the foot (2,280 cases). The 35-44 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 7,088 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 7.3% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 315 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how slow cookers 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 | 4,168 | 2,595 | |
| 5-14 | 1,448 | 1,515 | |
| 15-24 | 1,678 | 2,212 | |
| 25-34 | 1,376 | 4,308 | |
| 35-44 | 1,581 | 5,507 | |
| 45-54 | 1,830 | 3,218 | |
| 55-64 | 1,572 | 3,730 | |
| 65-74 | 1,691 | 2,574 | |
| 75+ | 1,171 | 2,668 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Hand | Burn, Scald | |
| Foot | Burn, Scald | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Burn, Scald | |
| Foot | Laceration | |
| Face | Burn, Scald | |
| Lower Trunk | Burn, Scald | |
| Wrist | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Burns, Thermal | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| Head | Concussion |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
63YOF PRESENT TO ED MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS,GLF 2D AGO LIFTED A HEAVEY *** FELL TO GROUND IN HER KITCHEN STRIKING R EYEBROW EYE SWOLLEN SHUT,L WRIST,L CHEST WALL.PERSISTENT PLEURITIC PX L LOW CHEST C/F DISPLACED RODS IN PLACE FROM PRIOR FX'S.HX RECURRENT FALLS,S/P MULTIPLE FX'S FROM FALLS.NO ANTICOAGULATION.R EPIGASTRIC PX 2DAYSDX:GASTROINTESTINAL HEMORRHAGE UNSPECIFIED
38YOF COMES TO THE ER WITH A RIGHT HAND LACERATION. SHE STATES SHE CUT HER HAND WHEN PICKING UP PIECES OF A BROKEN ***. DX: LACERATION HAND WITHOUT FOREIGN BODY INITIAL RIGHT
64YOM WAS COOKING BEANS IN A *** AND THE *** SUDDENLY EXPLODED AND A JAGGED PIECE OF BROKEN POT IMPACTED HIS RIGHT ANKLE REGION DX: RIGHT ANKLE LACERATION, RIGHT ANKLE TENDON LACERATION
13 MOF PRESENTS WITH PARTIAL-THICKNESS BURNS AFTER PULLING DOWN A *** FULL OF HOT SOUP. BURNS ARE LOCATED ON FACE, BILATERAL ARMS, RIGHT SHOULDER/UPPER BACK, AND BILATERAL LOWER LEGS. DX: BURN.
76YOM DEVELOPED CHEST PAIN AFTER LIFTING A FEW HEAVY *** DX: CHEST PAIN
61YOF C/O INJURY TO LEFT FOOT AFTER A *** FELL ON TOP OF IT. PAIN WHEN WEIGHT BEARING. LEFT BEFORE EVALUATION. DX: UNKNOWN
14YOF WAS CARRYING A *** AND DROPPED IT AND IT SHATTERED DX: LACERATION RIGHT FOOT
71YOF ACCIDENTLLY SPILLED LIQUID FROM A SLOW COOKER AT HOME, PT HAS BURN TO LEFT FOREARM & LEFT BREAST SKIN READ IN BOTH AREAS DX BURN OF RIGHT LOWER EXTREMITY, HYPOKALEMIA
14MOM PRESENTS WITH HAND INJURY S/P PT'S MOTHER STATES PT HAD HIS HAND ON THE COUNTER WHEN A *** FELL ONTO HIS HAND. DX: INJURY OF RIGHT HAND
61YOF, ACCIDENTALLY CUT HER WRIST ON A BROKEN CERAMIC *** DX: LACERATION OF RIGHT WRIST
71YOM WAS HOLDING A ***, TWISTED AND HIS BACK WENT OUT. ALSO FELL FROM STANDING ONTO HIS COUCH DX: LUMBAR STRAIN, ACUTE ON CHRONIC BACK PAIN
4YOM BURNED ON NECK & CHEST BY HOT SAUCE HE SPILLED FROM A SLOW COOKER. DX: BURN
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
The consumer stated that her slow cooker had the glass shatter after she used it for 5 hours cooking ribs. The product is electric powered. The consumer is unsure of what setting is was on. The consumer feels that there is a design flaw of not enough venting that caused this to happen. The consumer feels that the gasket where the glass top is prevents the air to escape the cooker. The consumer was not harmed or injured by the product. The consumer did not call the fire department after the incident took place and the product did not damage her home. The product has not charring or cinge marks. The consumer called the firm about the issue today and was told that the firm would send her a new lid. The consumer was outside when the incident happened so was not present when it happened but there was glass all over her kitchen. The consumer has yet to call the retailer.
The glass cover on my Hamilton Beach pressure cooker shattered. We cooked a soup on the Low temperature setting overnight for 8 hours. In the morning, approximately 9-10 hours after starting it, before even touching the [slow cooker], we discovered the glass lid had shattered. Hamilton Beach [slow cooker]Type SC26 Model 33967 Series A1701DJ
While cooking dinner with my crock pot, I lifted the lid, and I ended up with the handle in my hand and the lid shattered.
I HAVE A RIVAL CROCK POT AND I WAS TAKING THE LID OFF THE CROCK POT AND THE HANDLE FLEW OFF DROPPING THE GLASS LID BREAKING ON THE FLOOR THEY HAVE TO MAKE THEIR HANDLES BETTER SO THEY DONT BREAK OFF THE CROCK POT PROBABLY IS NOT EVEN A YEAR OLD
My mother, [REDACTED], was carrying her Kenmore [Slow Cooker] across the kitchen when one of the handles abruptly detached from the side of the [slow cooker]. This caused the crock pot to fall to the floor and spill its contents everywhere.
Was using rival 2 qt slow cooker on low temp when the lid exploded. Glass shattered and went everywhere into the product and out -- lost the product I was cooking. I sent e-mail to Rival and they told me to contact 866-321-9509 which turned out to be Walmart -- they told me they could send me a replacement lid, but i told them i threw the whole thing in the trash -- i wasn't going to use it again -- it couldn't have been the lid that was defective -- it has to be the unit -- so what good would a new lid do me? it could just explode again -- not taking that chance -- so they then told me i could contact you and report it. No one seems to care do they?
I was using a Ninja Foodi as a slow cooker to make some sauce and had dribbled some on the front of the unit. As I wiped off on the pot where the lip of the lid sits with a paper towel, I ended up with a metal shaving from the unit that pierced through my finger and nearly out the other side.
Slow cooker set to low, left house for day trip and returned three hours later. When we returned the slow cooker was not operating, and on closer inspection the bottom of the control panel was melted. There was evidence of smoke around the perimeter of the control panel. When I typed in the model number to look for what size to replace the slow cooker with, I saw there was a recall already in place.
Showing 8 of 315 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to slow cookers on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are slow cookers?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, slow cookers have a danger score of 36/100 (low risk). An estimated 2,242 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from slow cookers?
The most common injury is laceration to the finger, accounting for approximately 3,261 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from slow cookers increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for slow cookers injuries?
The 35-44 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 7,088 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by slow cookers?
Of all ER visits involving slow cookers, approximately 7.3% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (92.7%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with slow cookers?
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 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 35-44 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.
