Toy safety

The manufacturer of a toy has the main responsibility for ensuring product safety. It is the manufacturer who is in control of the product design and the subsequent production.  

Safety in design

Product safety starts with good product design and designing safety into the toy.

There are some key steps that a manufacturer should consider when designing safety into a product –

1. To consider whether or not the product is indeed a toy. The safety of toys is controlled by the EU’s Toy Safety Directive. This Directive defines a toy as ‘Any product or material designed or intended whether or not exclusively for use in play by children under 14 years of age’.  

2. The manufacturer needs to carry out a safety assessment. This is a requirement under the Toy Safety Directive. The safety assessment needs to identify the potential hazards the toy may possess. This assessment must be undertaken before the toy is placed on the market or even manufactured.

The safety assessment should cover all potential hazards, such as:

• Are there any common mechanical hazards such as the presence of small parts which a child could swallow, or sharp edges, etc.
• Are there flammability hazards associated with the material the toy is made from?
• Could there be chemical risks, for example related to the composition of any paint coating?
• For electrical toys, are there electrical hazards, for example to get an electrical shock?

Risks

The risks that the manufacturer should be looking out for are:

• Chemical
• Physical
• Mechanical
• Electrical
• Flammability
• Hygienic and radioactivity hazards

Products often include materials that are not produced by the toy manufacturers themselves, so they should make it clear to their suppliers what their raw materials will be used for and ask for test certificates. They should also approach a reputable, independent laboratory to test samples of their products. Finally, they should review the harmonised toy safety standards to get instructions how to avoid potential hazards.