More Than 5,000 Storage Caddies Recalled

Midwest Folding Products is voluntarily recalling about 5,300 storage caddies for portable stages and risers due to risk of injury or death.

The caddy’s latches do not automatically close to secure the stages and risers when they are stored. The unsecured stages and risers can then fall off the caddies and onto consumers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Chicago-based Midwest Folding Products said Wednesday.

A 3-year-old girl in Greenville, S.C. died last year from severe head trauma after part of a portable stage fell out of the caddy and onto her.

The recall involves caddies used to store collapsible stages and risers when they are not being used. The caddies are brown, gray or black metal and measure 44 inches long by 30 inches wide and 60 inches high. They hold six to eight stage or riser platforms.

The products were sold by Midwest Folding to churches, schools, performing arts centers and various other organizations nationwide from January 1989 through March 2012 for about $1,200. Midwest Folding is directly contacting known purchasers of the caddies.

Organizations that own the caddies should immediately stop using them and contact Midwest Folding to receive a free repair kit and new warning and instruction labels.

For more information, contact Midwest Folding Products at (800) 621-4716 or visit the firm’s website at www.midwestfolding.com.