hovabators or a cabinet?

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Whats the safety difference between a stand up freezer laying on its back an a chest type freezer. None have latched in years. The danger was stand up fridges with latching handles, very few still around. All new ones can only be locked with a key from the out side.

That's what I was thinking. Those old (and really cool-looking, IMO) refrigerators had silver chrome handles that actually latched shut to hold the door closed.

Nowadays, they're so easy to open that I've had things fall over in the 'fridge (like a watermelon), bang against the door, and knock it open! When I was brining my Thanksgiving turkey in the downstair 'fridge last month, I actually put a brace against the door to hold it closed, just in case something shifted inside!

 

[jvls1942]

the danger is in the door even though there is no latch.. a small child could not lift a lid as easily as pushing one open from the inside.. and there is a good amount of force needed to push one open as it is. no matter, laying down or standing upright..

do whatever you want.. I just wanted to point it out.. sorry for caring..

.....jiminwisc.........

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Ya cant really argue safety one way or the other. People have to decide what they see as acceptable regarding safety, especially on farms.

Here's what the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says. "Consumers can determine if their chest freezer poses a hazard by trying to open the freezer without using the handle. If the freezer can be opened by pulling up on sides of the lid, it is not a hazard. If the lid only opens by using the handle, it needs to be properly disposed of or disabled."

 

[jvls1942]

I am talking about small children.
short children. (the kind most likely
to fall in, get put in by their older friends/siblings etc.) they would n not be tall enough t push the door high enough to let themselves out,, like I said before, suit yourself..
If you cannot see the danger, I wish you luck. it only takes once.

...jiminwisc........

 

[ninjapoodles]

Jim, I don't think anyone is disregarding the danger. It's just that certain types of units (as in rebelcowboys post) would be far more dangerous than others.

My daughter's been able to open all of our fridge and freezer doors since she was 18 months old, just by grasping the bottom edge and pulling, and the only reason I remember that so well is because of the things she'd get into! We had to childproof the contents of our fridge, and the door to the room the freezer was kept in.

I think the link posted above is a really good guideline. If it takes much force at all (or requires the use of the handle) to open the door, then yes, that would be a safety hazard to young children!

ETA: In my earlier posts, I wasn't really thinking about chest freezers, or considering other children putting a wee toddler INTO a chest freezer and closing it--EGADS, that is horrifying--what kind if kid would do that? *shudder* But I'd posit that any child big enough to climb INTO one all on their own has to be tall enough to push it open from the inside. But NO, I would not keep an empty chest freezer around anyplace that tiny, unattended children had access to.