Caution required for Infant caught inside Massage Chair

- 3 massage chair manufacturers to provide free repair to prevent infants from being squeezed inside the massage chair -

While massage chairs are gaining popularity among consumers, so are safety accidents on the rise. In particular, special attention is advised for guardians, as there are growing number of accidents where infants are stuck inside the leg extension below the massage chair.

□ Safety accidents from massage chair rapidly rising annually, with “0-6” infants taking the lion’s share

According to Korea Consumer Agency (KCA, President Lee Hee-sook), CISS* is seeing an annual increase in the number of reports on injury cases related to massage chair**. A total of 631 cases were received for the last 3 years and 8 months (Jan. 1, 2017 to Aug. 31, 2020). Among those, 178 cases were injury to bodies including fracture.

* CISS(Consumer Injury Surveillance System) : A system operated by KCA in accordance with「Framework Act on Consumers」, collecting, analyzing, and assessing injury information submitted through 81 institutions (63 hospitals, 18 fire departments) nationwide and 1372 Consumer Consulting Center.

** Trends in number of cases annually: 50 (2017) → 114 (2018) → 242 (2019) → 225 (Jan. to Aug., 2020)

An analysis on 178 bodily injury cases confirmed that infants between “0 to 6” were the most hurt (46 cases, 25.8%), due to “squashing/squeezing (24 cases, 52.2%)” and “sliding/falling down (19 cases, 41.3%).” Infants (0 to 6) squashed/squeezed (24 cases) were injured in parts in the following order: “Feet/legs” (16 cases, 66.7%), “Chest/stomach” (3 cases, 12.5%), “Hands/arms” (3 cases, 12.5%) and others.