Danger score versus ER volume
Danger score versus ER volume
According to CPSC NEISS 2005-2024, Watches ranks #526 of 838 by danger score (33/100) at ER-volume #479 of 838 (1,417/yr). They are not the same ranking.
- #526
- danger rank of 838
- #479
- ER-volume rank of 838
- 33/100
- danger score
- 1,417/yr
- estimated ER visits (avg)
Danger score combines injury volume, hospitalization, fatality, and five-year trend. ER volume is the average annual NEISS estimate alone. Rank 1 is highest on each list.
Where this category's danger score sits nationally
Danger score (33/100) across 838 scored CPSC product categories
33 Lower than most lower than 63% of 838 product categories
scored CPSC product categories, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more product categories. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source CPSC NEISS, PlainSafety danger-score model · 2024
Composite verdict
Composite Safety Score: 51/100
One verdict blending 4 independently-sourced dimensions from two separate CPSC systems, each benchmarked against all 838 scored product categories by percentile rather than raw value, so no single huge-volume category can dominate the scale.
| Dimension | Value | National percentile | Weight applied | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Injury severity (hospitalization + fatality blend) | 5 | 38th | 35% | CPSC NEISS 20-year severity index |
| Annual ER injury volume | 1,417 | 39th | 30% | CPSC NEISS estimated annual ER-treated injuries |
| 5-year injury trend | -5% | 59th | 15% | CPSC NEISS 5-year % change in ER-treated injuries |
| Consumer incident reports | 125 | 85th | 20% | CPSC SaferProducts.gov public incident report count |
Methodology: each dimension is ranked against the full population's p10/p25/p50/p75/p90 breakpoints and interpolated to a 0-100 percentile; the composite is the weighted average of available percentiles. See methodology for the full benchmark table.
Where 28,349 estimated ER injuries land on the body
Body-part shares from the same CPSC NEISS injury_types extract for product code 1622. Segments sum to 28,349 - a body-map mix, not a danger score or ER-volume rank.
Two danger lenses
Same-group peer scores and this product's dial
The bars compare PlainSafety danger scores inside the Personal Care & Safety Products group (same CPSC NEISS extract). The dial is this product's score alone on the Low/Moderate/High bands. Do not read a peer bar as an ER-visit count.
Personal Care & Safety Products danger scores
How this 33/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for watches - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume 1,417 ER visits/yr Below median volume
- Severity (hospitalization rate) 4.5% Below median admission rate
- Fatality rate 0.00% No recorded fatalities
- 5-year trend-5%
Band labels compare this category against the corpus of 838 scored CPSC product categories, see the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Across the 20-year NEISS window from 2005 to 2024, injury counts for watches are roughly flat over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2013 (2,293 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2011 (925 estimated visits). The single most common ER diagnosis is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 3,169 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by derma/conjunct to the wrist (2,416 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 4,175 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 4.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 125 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how watches 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 Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 1,823 | 1,361 | |
| 5-14 | 2,616 | 1,559 | |
| 15-24 | 2,210 | 1,656 | |
| 25-34 | 2,221 | 1,233 | |
| 35-44 | 1,895 | 939 | |
| 45-54 | 1,896 | 924 | |
| 55-64 | 1,760 | 713 | |
| 65-74 | 1,421 | 640 | |
| 75+ | 1,905 | 1,555 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Wrist | Derma/conjunct | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Wrist | Other | |
| Wrist | Laceration | |
| Lower Arm | Laceration | |
| Wrist | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Eyeball | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Hand | Other | |
| Lower Arm | Avulsion | |
| Upper Trunk | Other | |
| Hand | Avulsion |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
10MOM INGESTED A PIECE OF A BROKEN WATCH. DX: ABDOMINAL PAIN, FOREIGN BODY INGESTION
28 YOM WITH A RASH ON WRIST FROM WATCH DX: CONTACT DERM
14YOF P/W FOREIGN BODY IN EYE, PT STATES SHE ACCIDENTALLY BROKE THE SCREEN PROTECTOR OVER HER *** WATCH AND SOME WENT INTO EYE, DX:FOREIGN BODY IN EYE
83YOF WAS IN AN ELEVATOR WHEN SHE WAS LOOKING DOWN AT HER WATCH AND HAD A SLIP AND FALL STRUCK HEAD DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY
2YOM WAS PLAYING W/ A WATCH AT HOME THAT HAD 3 BUTTOM BATTERIES, & ONLY HAD 2, PT HAD TOLD ONE OF HIS SIBLINGS HE SWALLOED THE BATTERY, MOM CONCERNED PT SWALLOWED ONE BATTERY DX SWALLOWED FORIGN BODY
31 YOF SAYS HER *** WATCH SPONTANEOUSLY CAUGHT FIRE JUST PRIOR TO ARRIVAL CAUSING A BURN TO DORSAL ASPECT OF LEFT WRIST, UNKNOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT. DX: BURN OF LEFT WRIST
58YOF PT BURNED LEFT FOREARM ON HOT STEAM X3 DAYS AGO; BLISTERED, BLISTER FELL OFF FROM *** WATCH RUBBING AGAINST IT. C/O INCREASED REDNESS & DISCOMFORT DX: CELLULITIS
47YOM PT C/O LEFT WRIST PAIN & FOREARM PAIN, PT SUSPECT FROM THE BANK OF HIS WATCH DX: CELLULITIS LEFT ARM
29 YOM. PUNTURE WOUND TO LT THUMB AFTER PT WAS TRYING TO FIX A WATCH USING A MINI SCREW RIVER. DX: PUNCTURE WOUND
14MOM SWALLOWED A PIECE OF A WRISTWATCH. DX: SWALLOWED FB
15YOM CUT HAND ON HIS *** WATCH WHEN IT SHATTERED IN HIS HAND. DX: HAND LAC
71YOF, RESTRAINED DRIVER INVOLVED IN ROLL OVER MOTORVEHICLE CRASH WITH AIRBAG DEPLOYMENT NO HEAD TRAUMA OR LOSS OF CONSCIOUSNESS REPORTS THAT HER *** WATCH ALERTED HER TO IRREGULAR HEART RHYTHM PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT HAS FACIAL LACERATION AND IMAGING SHOWED C-SPINE HAND AND CLAVICLE FRACTURES, DX: MULTIPLE TRAUMA
Consumer Incident Reports
Reports filed by consumers on SaferProducts.gov.
My COROS Apex watch became burning hot while on my wrist. I did not receive any visible burns, but I had to rip it off my wrist (and then we placed it on an ice pack and put it outside for fear it would explode/catch fire - 3 other people with me confirmed that it was painfully hot). The watch was not actively recording any activity - just in normal use mode. It no longer turns on unless plugged in, and even when plugged in it does not charge and the dial doesn't work. I bought the watch in July 2020.
Today I received the watch in the mail. I wore it for about 5 hours, and began to notice little scratches and scrapes already on the "super hardened mineral crystal" face. I figured I must have scraped it on something, but I had stuff to do, so I went about my day. At 9:16 pm, I was sitting at my computer, checking my e-mail, when all of a sudden CRACK! The glass of the watch cracked with a violent POP! Luckily the face of this explosive watch was facing away from me when it broke, otherwise small shards of hardened mineral glass may have been blasted into my face and eyes. This is a DANGEROUS PRODUCT!! I had gone for a walk with the watch on my wrist- it was a cool night, and I had just finished exercising (not wearing the watch in the gym.) I sat at my computer around 8:30. I suspect the cool outside air, coupled with my higher body heat, caused the 'titanium' case the lens is secured in to expand slightly (from body heat), then contract in the cool night air. I purchased the watch directly from Amazon LLC.
The light from the back of my Apple Watch burned my skin
Apple Iwatch overheated while I was sleeping and burned me bad.
Several months ago, I purchased an inexpensive wrist watch with an expandable wrist band. On several occasions, I found scratches on my wrist, but I didn't know what the cause was. Today, I removed my watch to apply sunscreen and the edge of the wrist band caused small lacerations on the inside of my wrist (same location as scratches I'd noticed before). The lacerations were deep enough to cause bleeding and require pressure and a bandage. I purchased the watch at the Fruitland, Maryland, Walmart Store sometime in spring 2019. It is a silver women's watch with a second hand, and a metal expandable wrist band. There is no brand name on the face. The back of the watch case has the following information engraved: Base Metal Bezel 1903 FMDWS166 IF101 BATTERY 377 JAPAN MOVEMENT FMD STAINLESS STEEL BACK On each end of the wristband it says STAINLESS STEEL on one end CHINA on the other end
My 8 year old wears a Biggerfive Brave 2 smartwatch. It never showed any codes but she ended up with a burn in a circle likely from the battery on her wrist.
Received a 2nd degree burn on my wrist from a Samsung Smart Watch that overheated while I was riding my motorcycle to work.
I purchased a 47mm watch from Wyze. It comes with a USB charge cable, which is used ~1x per week. I have been using this watch since I received it several months ago, and it has been fine. Several days ago when I tried to charge my watch nothing happened, and I felt a bump on the charging cable. I looked and saw a hole had been melted through at the charging head. This happened at some point when it was not connected to my watch.
Showing 8 of 125 reports.
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to watches on the CPSC website.
Compare beyond Personal Care & Safety Products
Nationwide peers by danger score, ER volume & hospitalization
Three PlainSafety-derived comparison paths for Watches: cross-group products nearest on danger score (33/100), estimated annual ER visits (1,417/yr), and hospitalization share (4.5%). Same-group neighbours stay in Related Products above.
Similar danger score
Nearest cross-group products by PlainSafety danger score (100-point scale).
Similar ER visit volume
Nearest cross-group products by NEISS estimated annual ER visits.
- Power Sanders Home Communication & Entertainment 1,417/yr
- Scuba Diving (activity, Apparel Or Equipment) Sports & Recreation Equipment 1,418/yr
- Doll Houses And Other Play Scenes Swimming, Water & Beach Equipment 1,425/yr
- Power Pruning Or Trimming Equipment, Not Specified Lawn & Garden Equipment 1,427/yr
Similar hospitalization rate
Nearest cross-group products by % of NEISS ER visits resulting in hospital admission.
Related Products in Personal Care & Safety Products
Read with this product
About this data
CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports form the basis of this page. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments.
According to PlainSafety's CPSC NEISS corpus ranking, Watches ranks #526 of 838 scored CPSC product categories by PlainSafety danger score and #479 of 838 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where does watches rank on danger score versus ER volume?
Among 838 scored CPSC product categories, watches ranks #526 by PlainSafety danger score (33/100) and #479 by 20-year estimated ER injury volume (1,417/yr). The two rankings come from the same NEISS extract and are not the same order.
What are the most common injuries from watches?
The most common injury is ingestion to the internal, accounting for approximately 3,169 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from watches increasing or decreasing?
Stable over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for watches injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 4,175 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by watches?
Of all ER visits involving watches, approximately 4.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (95.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with watches?
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.
PlainSafety is rendered directly from U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall and incident records, no number is typed in by an editor. Product recall timelines and hazard labels are drawn from CPSC recall records for this product. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.