• Step Stool

Thanks to this golden age of the YouTube Internet era, we can capture and continuously remember TV’s greatest bloopers. Among those bloopers are two that exist in YouTube’s 1 million view club, and they both involve shopping network hosts trying to convince their viewers that someone has reinvented the ladder. Of course, one host famously fell from the top of a very tall ladder, while the other takes a tumble from lesser height. In both cases, they reminded consumers that nothing is ever 100 percent safe, and had they been able to try out the Task*It 1-UP folding step stool this week, they could have possibly reminded us once more.

Manufacturer Cramer LLC and the U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission have announced the recall of approximately 6,500 Task*It 1-UP folding step stools because of a manufacturing defect that can potentially cause the stools to crack or even break, which can lead to people falling from them. As of this CPSC announcement, Cramer LLC has received 14 consumer reports of these stools breaking, and two of those reports have come from consumers who claim they suffered head, neck and/or back pains as a result of their falls. Naturally, Cramer and the CPSC are urging consumers to stop using the Task*It 1-UP folding step stools immediately.

While the stools are only approximately 11.5-inches high, they might not cause people to think they’re very dangerous. However, because people who spend between $30 and $40 on a high quality stool expect safety, they most likely won’t expect for that stool to break during use, which could lead to falls and serious injuries if a person is unable to brace for impact with a hard floor or surrounding objects.

The stools were originally sold at retail stores like SP Richards, United Stationers and Staples across the U.S., as well as online at Amazon.com during 2012. Consumers can contact Cramer LLC at (800) 366-6700 to order a free replacement stool.