Umbrellas
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.
Personal Care & Safety Products · CPSC Code 1660
Stable over 5 years
The verdict
Umbrellas carry a danger score of 35/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 3,338 ER-treated injuries a year that are roughly flat over the last five years.
- 35/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 3,338
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 5.5%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1660 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 35/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for umbrellas - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume3,338 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)5.5%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-9%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Umbrellas (CPSC product code 1660, in the Personal Care & Safety Products category) generate an estimated 3,338 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 66,765 ER-treated injuries across the 20-year span from 2005 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 35/100 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 2019 (4,624 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2014 (2,362 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for umbrellas is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 6,827 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the finger (6,386 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 9,043 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 5.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 40 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how umbrellas 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 | 2,762 | 3,165 | |
| 5-14 | 5,184 | 3,859 | |
| 15-24 | 2,275 | 3,666 | |
| 25-34 | 2,421 | 3,505 | |
| 35-44 | 2,838 | 5,067 | |
| 45-54 | 2,206 | 6,257 | |
| 55-64 | 1,880 | 5,558 | |
| 65-74 | 2,397 | 5,557 | |
| 75+ | 3,492 | 4,685 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Eyeball | Other | |
| Mouth | Laceration | |
| Lower Leg | Laceration | |
| Finger | Avulsion | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Concussion | |
| Upper Trunk | Other |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
19YOM REPORTS HE WAS HOLDING AN UMBRELLA WHILE HIS GIRLFRIEND WAS GETTING IN THE CAR HE HEARD THUNDER AND FELT A SHOCK GO DOWN HIS LEFT ARM DX: ELECTROCUTION
19YOF REPORTS SHE WAS GETTING IN HER CAR WHILE HER BOYFRIEND WAS HOLDING AN UMBRELLA OVER HER SHE HEARD A VERY LOUD THUNDER BOOM BUT DID NOT FEEL ANY SHOCK DX: LEFT PRIOR TO BEING SEEN
29YOM STATES THAT HE WAS MOVING A LARGE HEAVY UMBRELLA WHEN HE DEVELOPED SEVERE PAIN IN LOWER BACK DX: STRAIN OF LUMBAR REGION
80YOF PATEINT WAS MOVING A LARGE TABLE UMBRELLA, WHEN SHE FELT A POP AND A PINCH IN HER BACK DX: T12 BURST FRACTURE, ACUTE LEFT SIDED LOW BACK PAIN WITHOUT SCIATICA, MUSCLE PAIN
60YOF WAS ON THE BEACH WHEN THE WIND CAUGHT A BEACH UMBRELLA AND LANDED ON HER HEAD DX:LAC FOREHEAD
42 YOM ACCIDENTALLY HIT HIMSELF IN THE FACE WITH THE TIP OF AN UMBRELLA CAUSING A LACERATION BELOW LEFT EYE AND NASAL BRIDGE. DX: LACERATION
30YOF,DIZZY,EATING AT RESTAURANT WHEN UMBRELLA FELL AN HIT HEAD,DX:CONCUSSION
46YOM PRESENTED TO THE ED AFTER A STEEL UMBRELLA FELL ON THE POSTERIOR ASPECT OF HIS LEFT EAR INJURING HIS OCCIPITAL AREA AND NECK, WITH PAIN AND TENDERNESS IN THE INJURED AREA PATIENT. PT HAS NECK PAIN DX: HEAD INJURY
73YOF WAS TRYING TO CLOSE A UMBRELLA ON HER PORCH WHEN SHE FELL OFF STRIKING HER HEAD DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY, WHIPLASH
8 YOF ACCIDENTALLY POKED SELF IN THE RIGHT EYE WITH AN UMBRELLA, DX: CORNEAL ABRASION
35 YOM PRESENTS FOR A RIGHT EYE INJURY. HE WEARS SCLERAL LENSES. HIS CHILD WAS SWINGING AN UMBRELLA AND STRUCK HIM IN THE RIGHT EYE CRACKING THE SCLERAL LENS IN HALF. HE REMOVED SOME OF THE LENS BUT HAS A FOREIGN BODY SENSATION. DX CORNEAL ABRASION
8YOM PT OUTSIDE PLAYING & WAS STRUCK BY AN UMBRELLA TO RT EAR, EMBEDDED ON IT, PIECE IS NOTED DX; RT EAR FOREIGN BODY
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
Navarro Half-Round Outdoor Patio Umbrella Stand Color: Black, Size: NO SIZE, Qty: 1 SKU # 73915026 I bought 3 from Kohl's. We put outdoor umbrellas on them and they tipped over vase and all. Luckily, they landed in my flower garden but my concern is that they could have fallen on someone.
Most recently (8/2012) I was using the sun shade umbrella with a stand, Shade Buddy by Guerrilla Painter while outdoor oil painting. The wind was not aggressive but enough to pick up the umbrella and the stake. It flew up in the air 15 feet, and then quickly carried it 20 feet behind me. I dove out of the way and fortunately there were not people behind me. The stand is a heavy metal pole with a metal foot piece and a sharp metal, spear like point at the end. This is the 3rd occurrence. On a separate occasion, June 2012, I was sitting on the ground with my easel painting. My mom was standing next to me with her Shade Buddy. The wind changed directions, picking up her embrella with stake. She grabbed the umbrella handle to prevent it from flying away. With the top half secure, the bottom end (below the hinge) swung around very quickly and hit me. I contacted the company. They have not replied. We do not use our 2 ShadeBuddy umbrellas bc it is a hazard with potential to severely injure someone.
I was reaching over to the back pocket of the passenger seat in my [REDACTED] to get my Totes Compact Umbrella. I got some minor resistance from the mesh and the bottom handle of the umbrella was dislodged hard like a bullet. It hit me on my upper lip and my mouth bled on the inside and I got a nasty bruise on the outside. If it had hit my teeth, I would have lost teeth and if it would have hit my eye, there is no question I would have lost my vision. A three foot spring came out which I guess gave the force to the incident . I have pictures of lip and umbrella.
Hi, I was trying an umbrella at a travel store and when I tried to close the umbrella the spring was so strong that it broke my 5th metacarpel. I was in a splint for 6 weeks and hand therapy for 6 more weeks. My doctor said it will take a year to heal. The company says that because they had a hanging tag on the umbrella they don't have to care that I was injured. The company has a warning on their website that the umbrella can cause injury. Question: do you think a tag on an item as everyday as an umbrella is sufficient when it does not prevent you from opening the umbrella and trying it? Do you think if it is truly a dangerous product, which the company states it is on their website, that they should have some packaging that prevents it from being used without absolutely knowing that it is a hazard? The product is SHEDRAIN Umbrella.
Umbrella fails completely. fell on my child.
We had an unused plastic Nautica beach umbrella that we had purchased from Sam's Club on March 10, 2018. It was the second day of using it at the beach. There was a slight wind, but everyone's umbrellas on the beach were doing fine. We were relaxing under the umbrella when suddenly I felt the upper half of the umbrella wack my head and nose. The upper half of the umbrella had slid out of its "secured" holding position, held down by the traditional two tightening clips, and flown down with force upon my face. Three days later I still have a bruise on my head and still gives me a headache when I check that area or touch it too much. We observed the umbrella over the course of the next few days and observed that any wind at all would slowly pull it out of its secured holding position. We finally had to duck tape it to hold it in place so we wouldn't get clobbered again (This is shown in photo--sorry, unable to upload). The design is a potential hazard for other customers who have the same product and a definite hazard for us. I can literally pull the pole out of its holder even though it is "secured". It is also worth noting that after only 4 days of use the twist bottom shows signs of stress on the plastic, which indicates it could break rather soon, and potentially cause another hazard. And also around the screws of the tightening clips are stress marks. (These are shown in photos--sorry, unable to upload.) The product label says it is a Nautica Classic Teal distributed by Essex Mfg, Inc at 350 Fifth Ave NY NY 10118-3299 and the # below the barcode reads: 0-1265501926-9 (the 0 and 9 are before and after the barcode--not sure if they are applicable).
Razor sharp parts sliced my palm. Exposed sharp wire stabbed my thumb.
Plastic connector between arm of umbrella and canopy snapped in half and collapsed on my front porch.
Showing 8 of 40 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to umbrellas on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are umbrellas?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, umbrellas have a danger score of 35/100 (low risk). An estimated 3,338 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from umbrellas?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 6,827 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from umbrellas increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for umbrellas injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 9,043 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by umbrellas?
Of all ER visits involving umbrellas, approximately 5.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (94.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with umbrellas?
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 Personal Care & Safety Products
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 35/100 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 5-14 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.
