It's an everyday danger lurking inside your home: the oven. 

Each year, children are injured and even killed when ovens tip over, but the incidents can be prevented by making sure the oven has a simple anti-tip bracket installed.

One-year-old Elijah Landeros died after the kitchen stove in his family’s apartment toppled over onto him. Elijah’s father went out to the car to get a diaper bag and when he came back into the apartment his son was pinned under the stove. Investigators say the child climbed onto the stove’s door and his weight caused the stove to fall over on him.

Another 2-year-old   boy, Deondre Watson Jr. was crushed in his family's kitchen on July 11 when the stove tipped over on him. Safety experts say a simple bracket, required in some jurisdictions, would have saved him.

The boy's parents, Deondre Watson Sr. and Diana Taylor, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court seeking unspecified damages from the Oak Tree Apartments, where they live. They claim the landlord should have secured the appliance.

Raven Holbert, 3, of Sedalia, Mo., died in December 2001 after she opened the stove door in her family's kitchen while reaching for cookies on a countertop, according to court records. The blow to her chest left her dead two days later.

In 2009, a Modesto, Calif., toddler died two days before his second birthday when he climbed onto an oven door, according to news accounts. Investigators said he opened the oven to use the door as a step.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission completed a review of range tip-over hazards and has started a public awareness campaign called “The Tipping Point.” Here are their key findings:

In one year alone there were 1,600 injuries from appliance tip-overs; most of the victims were children under 5.

There is an average of 2 - 3 deaths per year from ovens tipping over; most victims were children under 10 or adults over 70.

The ranges associated with tip-over fatalities and injuries are freestanding or slide-in stoves with oven doors that swing downward.

How do these accidents happen? Children pull open a stove door and climb on top of it, causing the range to tip over. Older adults lean on a stove door for support, causing the range to tip over.

Heat from the range makes injuries worse.

None of the ranges involved in tip-overs were secured to the wall, floor or cabinets.

At New Jersey’s Consumer Evaluation Center, home safety expert Bret Kaufmann showed Inside Edition how easily an unsecured oven can tip when curious children climb on it. 

He pointed out that the oven door can become a step for kids looking to see what's going on. With a little added weight, the appliance can start to fall.

"So it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to cause this to happen," Kaufmann said.

Using a mannequin and an oven donated by Top Line Appliance Center, he showed Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero what a tip-over looks like and how it can crush a child.

But that's not the only danger.

As an oven tips, a pot of boiling water on the stove can come crashing down, causing further injuries.

"I only could imagine if that pot were boiling and that was a real child," Guerrero said. "That would be a devastating tragedy."

Guerrero and Kaufmann set off on a mission, conducting surprise inspections around a New Jersey neighborhood to see how many people had ovens that are potentially dangerous.

Dana is a stay-at-home mom with two children, ages 4 and 1. 

A quick inspection showed that her oven was not outfitted with the anti-tip bracket.

"It's ... unsafe," Kaufmann said. "Kind of an injury waiting to happen."

"It's scary," Dana said. "There's a lot of things we do to protect these kids and this is one of them I never thought about."

And it was more of the same throughout the neighborhood. Many residents were shocked when Inside Edition pointed out the dangers. 

"Never thought that could be a hazard," said Joyce, a homeowner down the block.

"I'm really surprised," added another neighbor, Glenn.

So what can you do to make your oven safer?

First, Kaufmann said, buy a safety device that prevents your oven door from opening. Then, install an anti-tip bracket, which is screwed into the wall or floor and keeps the oven from falling over. 

New ovens come with anti-tip brackets, but if yours doesn't have one, you can pick one up at any home improvement store for less than $10.

You could save a life.

Watch the video below to learn more. Share this so others are aware of this hidden danger.

sources: stltoday / lasvegasnow.com/ Inside Edition