Kimberly Amato, PT, is the founder of Meghan's Hope and a co-founder of Parents Against Tip-Overs, two organizations that focus on furniture tip-over awareness and prevention. Amato is a physical therapist, a Rehab Liaison for Fairlawn Rehab Hospital (an affiliate of Encompass Health in Massachusetts), and a proud mom of three. She founded Meghan’s Hope in 2004 after her daughter Meghan died from a furniture tip-over, in the hopes of preventing it from happening to any other child. She also wrote the book she wished someone handed her the day her Meggie died: Out of the Darkness: Coping with and Recovering from the Death of a Child. In 2018, she co-founded Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT), a nationwide coalition of parents who all lost a child to furniture tip-overs, and who want to see an end to tip-over injuries and deaths. She currently serves as PAT’s vice chair. Amato is an active member of ASTM committee F15.42 for furniture safety, and serves as a task group chair on the anti-tip device subcommittee.
You are a physical therapist, mother, and avid ballroom dancer as well as a founder and co-founder of two nonprofits. How did you get here?
There is a great quote by Lily Tomlin: “I always wondered why somebody doesn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.” Once I learned that there was a need for action to prevent tip-overs—which have caused thousands of injuries and hundreds of deaths—I knew I had to get involved.
My journey started when I lost my three-year-old twin daughter, Meghan, the Saturday before Christmas in 2004, when her dresser fell on her while the rest of our family was asleep. I thought it was a freak accident; I also mistakenly thought anything meant for children, including furniture, was proven to be safe before it hit store shelves. After Meghan’s death, I learned that she was not the first to die—in fact, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) had issued a safety alert in the 1990s about the dangers of tip-overs. The ASTM furniture safety committee formed in 1998 and issued its first specification for dressers in 2000, four years before Meghan died.
Tip-overs were, and still are, a clear and present danger in every home. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) Annual 2023 Tip-Over Report, we know that about every two weeks, someone in the U.S. dies because of a tip-over, and about every 45 minutes someone is rushed to the E.R. because of a tip-over. That’s more than 24 people a day! I also learned that $10 and 20 minutes to install a furniture anchor would have saved my daughter’s life.
Since Meghan’s death, I have worked tirelessly to prevent this tragedy from happening to any other family–starting with local outreach and education, then speaking at national conferences, engaging with and testifying in front of the CPSC, lobbying Congress, and becoming involved with ASTM.
In 2018, I became the co-founder of Parents Against Tip-Overs (PAT). It was then that the momentum for change started to build: with our advocacy, the CPSC pursued rulemaking for clothing storage furniture.
The STURDY Act was a result of the work of parents like you, and groups like Meghan's Hope and Parents Against Tip-Overs. Tell us more about it the process of getting the Act passed.
With the guidance and support of the consumer advocacy organizations Kids in Danger and Consumer Reports, I and my fellow PAT parents became actively involved with the ASTM furniture safety sub-committee. We engaged with the CPSC, regularly meeting with the commissioners and testifying at the annual priorities hearings, and met with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. We later collaborated with manufacturers to strengthen the relevant ASTM voluntary standard, and with Senator Bob Casey and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky to take the steps needed to codify it into law. We have been relentless in our pursuit of the safety measures that would have saved our children and the hundreds of others who lost their lives to a tip-over.
In 2023, ASTM formally updated ASTM F2057, Standard Safety Specification for Clothing Storage Units, including more stringent requirements than previous guidance, as well as tests to address the real-world causes of tip-overs. And finally, after 18 years of personal advocacy and five years of relentless pressure and advocacy by Parents Against Tip-Overs, we received the most amazing gift: The STURDY Act passed both the U.S. House and Senate, and was signed into law by President Biden. Through the STURDY Act, ASTM F2057 became a CPSC mandatory safety standard.
Now that the STURDY Act has passed, you are still involved in voluntary standards. Why?
I made a promise to Meghan the day she died, that I would not let this preventable tragedy happen to any other child. I continue to be involved in voluntary standards because, while progress has been made, I’ve yet to be able to fully keep that promise. My voice, and my experience and perspective as a consumer, are both important and desperately needed. It’s also rewarding to be part of a consensus process and to get to know the players in product safety. I’ve learned a lot on this journey, and I think they have too!
What advice do you have for consumers interested in participating in the voluntary standards process?
Consumer participation in voluntary standards is incredibly important! Who better to provide the perspective on how products are actually used in the home, and identify potential or actual safety hazards with a product? Consumer voices improve safety and have the potential to prevent future injuries and deaths because of a product safety hazard.
I always tell people to take a moment to look around you wherever you are right now. Chances are, there is a voluntary safety standard for many of the items you see. Those standards keep you and your family safer! Then I ask people if they know that someone—a consumer like them—may have played a role in making that product safer. Remember that Lily Tomlin quote? Most people do not know that voluntary standards even exist—let alone that they are developed with a consensus process that includes having consumers at the table. Consumers are vital in the standards process, and they are welcomed. In fact, consumers have identified the hazards that led to new standards for a variety of products for both children and adults!
I remember feeling lost and overwhelmed at my first ASTM meeting. I didn’t understand what was happening, what the language being used meant, or how the standard process worked. I was fortunate to have a consumer advocate take me under their wing and mentor me. Now, there are so many resources and training webinars for consumers who want to participate, so it’s much easier to get the lay of the land. [Editor’s note: Access ANSI resources for consumers.]
My advice is to remember that every voice matters—especially yours—so please consider getting involved in a committee of interest to you. Meetings usually have a virtual option, but I have found being in the room provides for a better experience and additional networking. There is often reimbursement for travel to facilitate participation, and the commitment does not involve a lot of time. [Editor’s note: Learn more about ANSI’s Consumer Participation Fund.] Your involvement can be incredibly rewarding, too, because you are playing a role in making the world a safer place!
