Woodburning Kits
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.
Toys & Children's Recreation · CPSC Code 1362
Down 36% over 5 years
The verdict
Woodburning Kits carry a danger score of 25/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 72 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 36% over the last five years.
- 25/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 72
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 9.1%
- end in hospital admission
- 5-14
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1362 - last data year 2023.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 25/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for woodburning kits - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume72 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)9.1%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trend-36%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Woodburning Kits (CPSC product code 1362, in the Toys & Children's Recreation category) generate an estimated 72 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 788 ER-treated injuries across the 19-year span from 2005 to 2023. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 25/100 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 36% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2017 (154 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2020 (5 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for woodburning kits is puncture to the hand, accounting for approximately 141 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by foreign body to the finger (102 cases). The 5-14 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 248 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 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 15 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how woodburning kits 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 2023-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2023)
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 | 86 | 0 | |
| 5-14 | 103 | 145 | |
| 15-24 | 142 | 30 | |
| 25-34 | 84 | 0 | |
| 35-44 | 80 | 0 | |
| 45-54 | 16 | 0 | |
| 55-64 | 102 | 0 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Hand | Puncture | |
| Finger | Foreign Body | |
| Finger | Puncture | |
| Upper Leg | Burns, Thermal | |
| Finger | Burn, Not Spec. | |
| Lower Arm | Burns, Thermal | |
| Toe | Laceration | |
| Finger | Burns, Thermal | |
| Hand | Burns, Thermal | |
| All Parts Body | Electric Shock | |
| Foot | Puncture | |
| Finger | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
28 YOM WORKING ON A WOOD BURNER AT HOME AND WAS ELECTROCUTED, UNRESPONSIVE DX: ELECTROCUTION, 3RD DEGREE BURNS TO BILAT HANDS AND L LOWER LEG, STERNUM FX
11YOF COMPLAINING OF BURNS TO HER LEFT HAND SHE HAS FIRST AND SECOND-DEGREE PARTIAL-THICKNESS BURNS TO THE LEFT THUMB AND INDEX FINGER AND FIRST-DEGREE BURNS TO THE MIDDLE FINGER AFTER SHE WENT TO PICKUP HER BROTHER'S WOOD BURNING TOOL AND DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS HOT DX: BURN OF SECOND DEGREE OF MULTIPLE LEFT DINGERS INCLUDING THUMB/BURNS INVOLVING LESS THEN 10% OF BODY SURFACE
35YOM PT STATES HE ACCIDENTALLY STABBED A WOOD BURNING IRON INTO HIS RIGHT INDEX FINGER, HAS 2MM PUNCTURE WOUND TO THE RIGHT INDEX FINGER. DX: BURN OF FINGER ON RIGHT HAND, PUNCTURE WOUND OF FINGER
18MOM GRABBED A WOOD BURNING TOOL AND BURNED SELF DX: THERMAL BURN HAND
13YOM W/ LEFT INDEX FINGER INJURY X 3DAYS. PT STATES HE WAS IN SHOP CLASS AT SCHOOL HE STABBED HIMSELF W/ WOOD BURNING TOOL. DX: PUNCTURE WOUND OF FINGER W/O FB
14 YOM C/O LEFT HAND PAIN, WAS USING A WOOD BURNER, DX; SECOND DEGREE BURN LEFT HAND
X 62 YOM WAS CUTTING CRAFT WOOD AND GOT PIECE STUCK UNDER FINGER NAIL DX REMOVAL OF FB (WOOD SPLINTER) UNDER FINGER NAIL
18MOM PULLED DOWN A HOT WOOD BURNER MEANT FOR CRAFTS AND BURNEDRIGHT LEG, 2ND DEGREE BURN TO RIGHT UPPER LEG
PT SUSTAINED PUNCTURE WOUND TO THE L FOOT WHEN STEPPED ON A PIECE OFWOOD.2
PT SUSTAINED FOREIGN BODY TO THE FINGER WHEN PUNCTURE WITH WOOD.@
PT SLIPPED AND LANDED W/HAND ON WOODBURNING STOVE.DX: L HAND SECOND DEG BURN.
PT SUSTAINED DUE TO LACERATION OF THE L 2ND FINGER WHILE CARVING WOODDX: FINGER LACERATION
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to woodburning kits on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are woodburning kits?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, woodburning kits have a danger score of 25/100 (low risk). An estimated 72 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from woodburning kits?
The most common injury is puncture to the hand, accounting for approximately 141 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from woodburning kits increasing or decreasing?
Down 36% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for woodburning kits injuries?
The 5-14 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 248 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by woodburning kits?
Of all ER visits involving woodburning kits, 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 woodburning kits?
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 Toys & Children's Recreation
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 25/100 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.
