Government Tells Ikea To Modify Manuals
Ikea Japan will modify its furniture assembly manuals after a man injured himself putting together a chest of drawers:
The industry ministry has instructed Ikea Japan K.K., the Japanese unit of the Swedish retail furniture giant, to improve its product manuals after receiving a report that a customer was severely injured while assembling a chest of drawers.
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry has been informed that a man in his 60s from Yotsukaido, Chiba Prefecture, was hit in the eye by a fragment from a screw that cracked while he was assembling a Mandal chest of drawers he bought from Ikea last July. He has been having eye problems ever since.
In response to the instruction, Ikea Japan compiled special assembly manuals written in Japanese in addition to its conventional manuals, which contain simple illustrations and brief instructions.
“The explanations were not sufficient and we doubt that the accident resulted simply from carelessness on the user’s part,” said a ministry official at the office in charge of product accidents.
The man had been using using a screwdriver that did not match the size of the drawer’s screws.
