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Toy safety is the practice of ensuring that toys, especially those made for children, are safe, usually through the application of set safety standards. In many countries, commercial toys must be able to pass safety tests in order to be sold. In the U.S., some toys must meet national standards, while other toys may not have to meet a defined safety standard. In countries where standards exist, they exist in order to prevent accidents, but there have still been some high-profile product recalls after such problems have occurred. The danger is often not due to faulty design; usage and chance both play a role in injury and death incidents as well.

Potential hazards:

Common scenarios include:

• Choking or aspiration of small parts
• Strangulation
• Cuts by sharp parts of the toy
• Injury by projectiles
• Drowning
• Motor vehicle incidents involving toys.

Select Toys With Care:

• Choose carefully. Look for good design and quality construction in the toys you buy.
• Watch out for toys that have sharp edges, small parts, or sharp points. Avoid toys that produce extremely loud noises that can damage hearing and propelled objects that can injure eyes.
• Buy toys that suit the child’s age, interest, and abilities. Avoid toys that are too complex for young children. Many toys have a suggested age range to help you choose toys that are appealing as well as safe.
• Be a label reader. Look for safety information such as “Not recommended for children under 3 years of age,” or “non-toxic” on toys likely to end up in little mouths, or “washable/hygenic materials” on stuffed toys and dolls.
• Check with parents before you buy a child a toy that requires close supervision - electrically operated toys, shooting toys and games, chemistry sets, and the like. Remember, too, that younger children may have access to toys intended for older children once the toy has been brought into the home.
• Look for the UL (Underwriters Laboratories) seal on electrical toys. It indicates the electrical parts have been tested for safety.

Seven Toy Dangers:

• Sharp edges: Toys made of brittle plastic or glass can break easily, exposing sharp points and edges. Wooden, metal, and plastic toys sometimes have sharp edges due to poor construction.
• Small parts: Tiny toys and toys with small, removable parts can be swallowed or become lodged in a child’s windpipe, ears, or nose. The squeakers in some squeeze toys can be removed and possibly swallowed. The seams of poorly constructed stuffed dolls or animals can break open and release small pellets that also can be swallowed or inhaled.
• Loud noises: Toy caps and some noise-making guns and other toys can reach noise levels that can damage hearing. The law requires the following label on boxes of caps producing noise above a certain level: “WARNING - Do not fire closer than 1 foot to the ear. Do not use indoors.”
• Sharp points: Broken toys can expose dangerous prongs and knife-sharp points. Pins and staples on dolls’ clothes, hair, and accessories can easily puncture an unsuspecting child. Even a teddy bear or stuffed toy can be assembled with wires that can cut or stab.
• Propelled objects: Projectiles - guided missiles and other flying toys - can be turned into weapons and can injure eyes in particular. Children should never be permitted to play with adult lawn darts or other hobby or sporting equipment with sharp points. Arrows or darts used by children should have soft cork tips, rubber suction cups or other protective tips to prevent injury.
• Electric toys: Electric toys that are improperly constructed, wired, or misused can shock or burn. Electric toys must meet mandatory requirements for maximum surface temperatures, electrical construction, and prominent warning labels. Electric toys with heating elements are recommended only for children over age 8. Children should be taught to use electric toys cautiously and under adult supervision.

• Wrong toy for the wrong age: Toys that may be safe for older children can be extremely dangerous in the hands of little ones.

Toy Safety Laws

Although any toy can be dangerous if misused, some toys that enter the marketplace are either unsuitable for children, or designed or constructed in a way that poses hazards to a child. Toys and other products intended for use by children that present electrical, mechanical, or heat hazards can be banned from sale. Since 1970, more than 1,500 hazardous toys and other items have been removed from sale, including:

• toy rattles containing rigid wires, sharp points, or small, loose objects that could become exposed and cause cuts or other injuries.
• any toy with noisemaking parts that could be removed by a child and swallowed or inhaled.
• any doll, stuffed animal, or similar toy having parts that could become exposed and cause cuts.
• lawn darts and other sharp, pointed items intended for outdoor use that could cause puncture wounds, unless they have included appropriate cautions, adequate directions, and warnings for safe use and are not sold by toy stores or stores dealing primarily in toys and other children’s articles.
• toy guns or caps that cause noise above a certain level.
• “baby bouncers” and similar articles that support very young children while sitting, walking, or bouncing, which could cause injury to the child such as pinching, cutting, or bruising.
• toys known as “cracker balls” that could break off and cause injury.

A 1973 regulation specifies maximum temperatures and requires reliable electrical construction for electrically operated toys. Electrical toys must have warning labels indicating they are not recommended for children under a certain age. In the case of toys that contain a heating element, the toy may not be recommended for children under age 8.

Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have legal responsibility for making sure they do not sell dangerous toys. Safety inspectors check factories, warehouses, and retail stores to insure compliance with the law. Imported toys, too, are checked for safety hazards.

However, safety standards and regulations cannot cover every situation, and among the thousands of toys entering the marketplace each year, some unsafe toys are likely to reach the consumer. Careful toy selection and proper supervision of children is still - and always will be - the best way to protect children from toy-related injuries.

Extra Care For Toddlers’ Toys:

Choose toys for very young children with extra care. Playthings that are safe for older children can be hazardous to little ones. Keep in mind that toddlers trip and fall easily, and that, with infants, “everything goes into the mouth.”

When choosing a toy for a toddler or infant, make sure it:

• Is too large to be swallowed.
• Does not have detachable pieces that can lodge in the windpipe, ears, or nostrils.
• Will not break easily, leaving jagged edges.
• Has no sharp edges or points.
• Has not been put together with easily exposed pins, wires, staples, or nails.
• Is labeled “non-toxic.”
• Can’t pinch fingers or catch hair.

Safety standards:

Distinction must be drawn between regulations and voluntary safety standards. In Europe toys must meet the criteria set by the EC Toy Safety Directive (essentially that a toy be safe, which may be addressed by testing to European Standard EN71) in order for them to carry the CE mark. All European Union member states have transposed this directive into law - for example, the UK’s Toy (safety) Regulations 1995 act. Trading Standards Officers in the UK, and other authorities in the other EU member states have the power to immediately demand the withdrawal of a toy product from sale on safety grounds via the RAPEX recall notification system (used for all products subject to European safety legislation).In Canada the government department Health Canada has the responsibility of ensuring product safety, just as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) does in the United States. Australian and New Zealand toy safety standards (following the approximate model of the European Toy Safety Standard) have been adopted by the ISO as International Standard ISO 8124. Toy safety standards are continually updated and modified as the understanding of risks increases and new products are developed.

In Europe, the comprehensive legislation addressing toy safety is the Toy Safety Directive of the European Union (EU), (Council Directive 83/189/EEC). This directive is a list of requirements toys must comply with, and is interpreted in the laws of each member state of the EU in their respective Toy Safety Regulations (e.g.: the UK’s Toys (Safety) Regulations 1995 (Statutory Instrument 1995 No. 204)). Compliance leads to a CE Mark, which is a mandatory requirement for selling the toy in the EU market. Some items included in the scope of this legislation which are not usually considered toys are; fashion jewelery for children, Christmas decorations, and air guns. The directive provides EU-wide standards on physical and mechanical properties, flammability, chemical properties, electrical properties, hygiene, and radioactivity. The Toys Safety Directive (and subsequent state regulations) also calls for the closest applicable national or international standards to be applied where a standard is not specified in the Directive. This interpretive clause is present to ensure that new and innovative toys are safe before being placed on the market. The EN71 Toy Safety Standard has been harmonised by the EC as the default standard which toys must meet. If a toy is found to be unsafe (by breaching one of the specified standards, or by a manifest risk of injury not specified in standards) then the producer (the manufacturer, or the first importer into the EU of the product unit in question) is held to be guilty of an offence under the Toys (Safety) Regulations (or equivalent EU state law). The principle of due diligence (whereby the producer argues that all reasonable steps were taken to ensure the safety of the consumer with regards to the toy) may be used by the producer to avoid prosecution, fines and possible imprisonment. The unsafe toy is withdrawn from the EU market, with all member states’ authorities being notified by means of the RAPEX alert system.

China’s toy industry has been regulated since early 2007 by the nation’s compulsory certification system for toy products. Regulations require a manufacturers to apply for China Compulsory Certification (CCC) from the nation’s Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA). From March 1, toy producers in China have been able to apply to three certification agencies nominated by the CNCA to certify their products. Toys are subject to inspection and certification review. Since June 1, 2007, no toy products without CCCs has been be allowed to leave factories, be sold or be imported into China. It is hoped this measure will mitigate the increasing international pressure on environmental protection, as well as further expand the nation’s toy export market.

International commerce plays a big role in toy safety. In the first four months of 2006, China exported US$4 billion worth of toys. The United States contributed 70 percent of the global market by exporting US$15.2 billion in toys in 2005. The European Union accounts for 75% of the final disposition of these toys. From January 2005 through September 2006, products originating in China were responsible for about 48 percent of product recalls in the U.S., and a similar percentage of notifications in the EU. Lack of process control in sub-contracted vendors has been a contibuting factor in recent high-profile cases.

Some toys have been discovered to have been unsafe after they have been placed on the market. Before the introduction of safety monitoring organisations the toys were simply stopped being manufactured if any action was taken at all, but since then there have been many toys that have been recalled by their manufacturer. In some notable cases the problem has only been found after the injury or even death of a person that purchased the product.