When Dangerous Kitchen Appliances Cause Injury: Damages and Liability

If you’ve been injured by dangerous kitchen equipment, you may be eligible for compensation from the manufacturer. Here’s what you need to know.

Nearly 200,000 people are injured by household appliances each year. Of those, over 14,000 are treated in the emergency room, hospitalized, or killed.¹

Injuries from appliances can be caused by design flaws, manufacturing errors, substandard materials, consumer abuse, failure to follow instructions, and use of appliances for non-recommended purposes.

Dangerous kitchen appliances can cause injuries ranging from minor cuts and bruises to serious burns, permanent scarring, and even death.

If you or a loved one was injured by a malfunctioning appliance, you might be entitled to compensation from the manufacturer.

Kitchen Appliances Linked to Injuries

Kitchen safety in residential homes and commercial kitchens requires safe food handling practices and reliable tools. Kitchen appliances, large and small, can become dangerous when a defect causes them to malfunction.

Refrigerator and Freezers

Refrigerators and freezers appear safe. What we don’t realize is they depend on complex machinery and dangerous chemicals to cool our food.

Injuries caused by refrigerators and freezers include:

  • Bumps and bruises
  • Pinched fingers and hands
  • Electrical shocks and electrocution
  • Chemical injuries from coolants ranging from chemical burns to poisoning
  • Crushing or suffocation from tipping over

Leaking water from failed and defrosting freezers can cause slip and fall accidents resulting in injuries as severe as broken bones or head trauma.

Blenders, Choppers, Mixers, and Food Processors

One of the largest appliance recalls in the history of the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission was issued in late 2017 for Cuisinart blenders with defective blades.

Cuisinart voluntarily recalled over 8 million units after 69 consumers reported finding broken bits of blades in their food. Half of the affected consumers suffered from injured teeth and mouth lacerations.

More often, blender, mixer, and food processor injuries happen to users who place their hands and fingers close to the blade, insert utensils while the blades or beaters are moving, ignore proper food safety practices, or use the appliance attachments improperly.

For example, the manufacturer of a stand mixer cannot be held responsible if a family is sickened by salmonella cross-contamination if the cook fails to clean up the raw meat grinder attachment and cutting boards before processing veggies.

Mandoline Slicers

Mandolines are a popular countertop appliance with extremely sharp blades. Mandolines are used to manually slice foods in consistent thicknesses for a more attractive finished dish. Some mandolines come with a food grater or dicing attachment.

Extreme care must be taken while using a mandoline to prevent lacerations and the potential loss of a fingertip. Mandolines are more likely to cause injury if they don’t have a proper “holder” for the food being sliced or grated, or if the mandoline unit tips during use.

Toasters and Toaster Ovens

Most homes have a toaster or toaster oven. Toasters are convenient, easy to use, and very popular. They can also be a serious fire hazard.

Crumbs collect in the bottom of any toaster and may be accompanied by frosting or fillings dripped from toaster pastries and other snacks. The accumulation of crumbs can easily catch fire. Despite the “crumb tray” in some appliances, many toasters and toaster ovens are not easy to clean.

Toasters and toaster ovens with defective timers allow the heating elements to stay on, causing fires.

Even scarier dangers are posed by toasters with heating elements that can start burning when the appliance is not in use, like the line of Hamilton Beach toasters recalled for their fire risk.

Stoves and Ovens

Studies have shown that household stoves are a common source of injury in the United States, averaging five injuries every hour. Nearly half of all stove injuries are to children and teens under 19 years old.

The most common injuries are burns, usually to the hands from touching hot stovetop burners or oven parts.

Stove and oven injuries can be caused by defective appliances. For instance, a recent recall of gas ranges and wall ovens was prompted by the discovery of a malfunction that could cause an unsafe accumulation of gas to ignite, burning the user when the oven door was opened.

Garbage Disposals

Electric garbage disposals are routinely installed in most kitchen sinks to help break down food waste and prevent clogged pipes. An electric appliance in the presence of water always has a risk of electrical shock.

The disposal can easily become a breeding ground for bacteria if not cleaned regularly with soapy water or bleach.

However, the primary danger of a garbage disposal comes from its sharp, powerful blades. Even when the disposal is turned off, serious laceration may occur from reaching into the drain area.

Adults or children who are reaching into the drain to retrieve a dropped item or remove a jammed item may suffer serious injuries, including amputation, if the disposal is turned on.

Why Appliance Recalls Matter

Most manufacturers have extensive quality control procedures to identify and remove dangerous kitchen tools and appliances before they make it to the marketplace. Unfortunately, dangerous appliances sometimes slip through manufacturers’ stringent reviews, ending up in consumers’ homes.

Often the only way a manufacturer learns about a home kitchen equipment defect is after a consumer gets injured.

Manufacturers issue recalls mostly out of caution. They don’t want their products causing further injuries. They also don’t want to be sued because they failed to issue a recall after learning of a product defect.

Examples of recalled kitchen appliances:

Manufacturers will issue recall notices by notifying you directly (if you used your email or mailing address when purchasing the product), via newspaper and website publication, or all three.

In most cases, manufacturers substitute the defective appliance for a new model. In other cases, where the appliance is too large to be returned, a representative will go to your home to make the necessary repairs.

Look for product recalls that may affect you at Recalls.gov.

Assumption of Risk

When you are notified of a recall and choose to continue using the potentially dangerous appliance, you are assuming the risk of injury. “Assumption of risk” is a legal term that means you knew you could get hurt using the appliance and decided to use it anyway.

If you are later injured while using the recalled appliance, it will be very difficult to prove the manufacturer is to blame for your accident.

Case Example: Disregarding a recall notice

Bob purchased a new blender from a national appliance retailer so he could make fruit smoothies. He used it daily for several months without problems.

One day, he received an email from the manufacturer stating his blender’s model number was on the recall list. Purchasers of the blender were told to bring them back to the store where they would be exchanged for a newer model. The recall was due to a wiring problem that may cause electrical shocks to the user.

Bob ignored the recall notice and continued to use his blender. Several weeks later, while turning on his blender, Bob received an electrical shock. It caused a serious burn to his hand.

Because the manufacturer had taken reasonable steps to protect customers by sending a recall notice and offering to replace the blender, the manufacturer was not liable for Bob’s injury.

Dangerous Appliance Damages and Liability

Due to strict quality control testing before products are available for retail sale, home appliances are usually safe. Most injuries occur because the consumer either used the appliance improperly, abused it, failed to maintain it, or purposely ignored a manufacturer’s recall notice.

Despite quality control, some appliances still come off the assembly line with design or manufacturing flaws. When those flaws result in consumer injuries, the manufacturer and retailer may be liable.

Appliance manufacturers have a legal duty of care to make sure their products don’t cause injuries to the public. If they fail in their duty, they are considered negligent and therefore responsible for any injuries their products cause.

To get injury compensation from the manufacturer, you must prove:

  1. The appliance manufacturer had a duty to make a safe product
  2. The manufacturer was negligent and breached that duty
  3. The negligence was the direct and proximate cause of your injuries
  4. Your injuries resulted in verifiable damages

Damages for appliance accident injuries can include:

  • Medical bills
  • Out-of-pocket medical expenses
  • Lost wages
  • Pain and suffering

If you haven’t received a recall notice and are injured while using an appliance, you may have grounds for a defective product claim. In that case, you may be entitled to compensation for your damages.

Case Example: Manufacturer liability

Amy purchased a toaster oven from a local retail store. She used it without mishap for several months. After re-heating some leftover pizza one evening, Amy reached for the toaster oven door. It fell from its hinges onto her hand, causing 2nd-degree burns.

The manufacturer had previously received complaints about the defective oven door from several hundred customers. However, because the number of reported incidents was small, the manufacturer decided not to issue a recall.

In this case, the manufacturer and retailer would be liable for Amy’s damages. They knew about the hazard but failed to warn consumers.

Appliance Injury Lawsuit Deadlines

If a defective appliance has injured you, you have the right to seek compensation for your damages, but you can lose that right if you miss your state’s statute of limitations.

A statute of limitations is the legal deadline to file a lawsuit. Generally, the statute begins to “run” on the date you were injured. Each state has its own deadline. If you miss the deadline, you lose your right to seek compensation, no matter how badly you’ve been hurt.

You are responsible for meeting the deadline. The adjuster isn’t obligated to help you settle before time runs out or warn you the deadline is approaching. The insurance company has no authority to grant an extension, so don’t trust them to do the right thing when the statute runs out.

Don’t let the manufacturer or their insurance company tell you it’s too late to seek injury compensation. In most states, the clock starts running when you are injured, not when you purchased the dangerous appliance.

When You Need Legal Representation

If your injury from a faulty appliance is relatively minor, you might decide to handle your own claim with the manufacturer or their insurance company. In any injury scenario, it’s important to collect all the evidence you can about the appliance, its defect, and the injuries it caused.

For serious injuries to you or a family member, and for claims that also include property damage, you will need the help of an experienced personal injury attorney.

Product liability cases can be extremely complicated. You’ll need a skilled attorney to gather the evidence and arrange for expert testimony to prove the appliance was defective, and that the manufacturer should have known about it.

Most attorneys offer a free consultation and will represent you on a contingency fee basis, meaning the attorney won’t get paid unless they settle your claim or win your case in court.

Dangerous Kitchen Equipment Injury Questions