Choosing Safe Toys

Families Feature Playing it safe

by Suzi Rodrigues

With online shopping so quick and simple, it’s too easy to overlook important safety

factors when buying toys. Quite often parents remove labels without even looking at them, as it becomes second nature before handing anything to an excited child!

We take it for granted that the toys we buy are safe but, increasingly, there are unsafe toys on sale. It’s getting harder to determine whether something is safe before it arrives in your hands and, even then, some risks you just won’t be able to determine by sight.

For a toy item to get its CE or UKCA, its minimum safety passport for sale around the UK and Europe, it must go through a series of Toy Safety Standards tests. For most toys, this has three parts but others have more, according to the style of toy:

Physical tests check the structure of the toy, to ensure that in usual use it won’t be broken and cause risk to a child. The tests involve the toy being dropped, poked, pulled and twisted, put into a cylinder to determine whether it’s a choke risk, and assessed for age, depending on its appeal and how it performs in tests.

Flammability tests are almost selfexplanatory; toys have strict burn rates they must apply to, especially for soft toys, play tents and fancy dress items to reduce the risk of burns and enable a child to drop or get out of a toy which is on fire.

Chemical tests check for hidden nasties that wouldn’t be easily assessed by eye. They ensure all the materials used contain nothing banned, as well as checking no heavy metals could leach out if sucked or chewed. How can you be sure a toy is safe?

Always read the labelling of any toy bought online, from a market stall, in a shop, even a handmade item for sale. All toys must have a safety mark to show that background work has gone into ensuring safety. It should also have the contact address of the company on it and clearly state any age-related warnings. If there is no label, or it has no CE or UKCA mark, return it. Being hazard aware

To avoid unnecessary risk, it’s important to always read the hazards on the labelling of toys and stick to the age guidance stated when it comes to very small children. Although children develop at different ages and stages, toys being marketed at children under 3 years old have a stricter chemical regulation than for those older than age 3, due to the likelihood of the item being mouthed.

As well as more obvious hazards such as strangulation with long cords and small parts that could be swallowed, long fur on soft toys can also be a choke risk for babies. Special care should be taken for babies under the age of 10 months, who aren’t sitting upright yet, as they may not easily remove items from their mouths when lying down.

There are also some dangerous parts of toys such as button batteries and magnets which can be fatal to children if swallowed, so inspect toys regularly to ensure that batteries and magnets are safe. Always dispose of toys with any sign of damage.

Suzi Rodrigues is a toy safety consultant for UKCA & CE Marking Handmade Toys Collective (www.cemarking-handmadetoys. co.uk), which provides advice and support for small business toy makers and is passionate about toy safety.

Buying or selling handmade toys?

Times have moved on from the handmade toys of our childhood, and now handmade or handcrafted toys are most definitely in vogue. Small businesses are popping up all over the internet with all sorts of talent, often inspired by the makers’ own children.

But, when it comes to any toys, safety first! Even handmade toys by small-time makers must have the UKCA or CE mark. If you aren’t sure if a maker has the mark, always ask. Those who have been through the process will be happy to talk about it with you.

If you want to sell toys, it all sounds very official but it’s easier than you might think to get through the process required to receive the UKCA mark. Most toys can be ‘selfcertified’ and tested at home by gathering information on materials, completing some easy tests with weights, a bit of burning and some legal paperwork. If you would like to sell your own toys, there’s information and a walkthrough guide to testing at

www.cemarking-handmadetoys.co.uk.