No surprise here: nearly every home in the United States has at least one television. The average American spends more than 4 hours in front of one every day. The Super Bowl alone brings in 110 million viewers. Even with all these eyes on screens, parents and caregivers of young children often overlook one critical safety check: could your TV tip over?

Several years ago, research showed a big jump in the number of injuries reported from TVs tipping over. More concerning, these injuries aren’t just bumps and bruises. Kids are dying at a rate of one every three weeks, and many more suffer serious head injuries and broken bones, all due to TV tip-overs.

Both flat-screen and cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs have risks. Flat-screen TVs tip over easily, and box-style CRT TVs are heavy. TVs are often placed on top of furniture, like dressers, so if a child climbs the dresser and it tips over, the force of the falling TV can cause deadly injuries.

Good news, though! There are ways to reduce the chances that your children will suffer a TV tip-over injury. Start with these five tips:

• All TVs should be secured to the wall. Use safety straps or brackets for CRT TVs and wall mounts for flat-screen TVs.
• Place TVs only on furniture designed to support televisions, such as TV stands and entertainment centers. Dressers, armoires, and chests of drawers are not safe places for a television.
• Secure TV stands and entertainment centers to the wall using safety straps or brackets.
• Do not place toys or the remote control on top of the furniture or the TV. Your child could climb the furniture to reach the item and cause the TV and furniture to tip over onto him.
• Make sure TVs are safely secured in other places your child spends time, like the homes of family, friends, and caregivers.

More information can be found at www.preventchildinjury.org/toolkits//tv-tip-overs.