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Joan Lawrence, vice-president of standards and regulatory affairs at the Toy Industry Association, Inc., explains how U.S. efforts in the development of toy safety standards have made toys among the safest consumer products in the home.

(Note: This article first appeared in the Summer 2003 issue of the ANSI Reporter)

Sociologists have long recognized that childhood play is universal. Global retail sales of toys in 2000 totaled US $69.5 billion, with U.S. sales accounting for over 30% of this figure. And while it is probably not surprising that the U.S. represents the largest toy consumer market, the U.S. also represents the largest producer market for toys as well. It is estimated that U.S.-based toy manufacturers develop more than half of toys sold worldwide. The U.S. also leads the world toy industry in new product innovation and design. With so much of the toy business residing in the U.S. and so much at stake — including the safety of our children — it is only natural that the U.S. toy industry has also become a leader in the development of product safety standards to protect their young, vulnerable users.

Over the years, the U.S. toy industry has grown into a market leader in two ways — in terms of market share, and as a leader in the field of toy safety and standards. Three factors contributed to this position:

1) With product design and marketing based in the U.S., the U.S. industry became the leader in technology in creating new products and in advancements in design, production methods and materials, and increased play value of products;

2) Technical expertise in the form of child safety and play patterns developed; and

3) Advanced injury data collection methods and a reliance on hazard identification and reduction in safety standards development make for sophisticated hazard-based standards.

The Building Blocks of Toy Safety

Toy safety has long been a priority for the U.S. toy industry, predating even the position as a market leader. Several significant accomplishments in toy safety over eight decades can be attributed to members of the U.S. industry and its trade association, along with various partner organizations. In the early 1930s, a Safety Standards Committee of industry executives was formed to address the issue of product safety and the safety of children. Their efforts later led to the industry’s first voluntary safety standard. Cooperative efforts between this Committee and the National Safety Council (NSC), beginning in the 1930s, led to the formation of a National Accident Reporting Service and a National Clearinghouse for Toy Injuries. Work between industry and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) began in the 1950s and resulted in a joint move in 1955 to establish a standard for surface coatings on toys.

In 1971, the U.S. toy industry association was the first to draft a comprehensive voluntary toy safety standard. Five years later, in 1976, the trade association led a group effort of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Consumers Union, National Safety Council, several national retail organizations and toy industry experts to publish the comprehensive standard under the auspices of the National Bureau of Standards. In 1986, the standard, revised and updated, earned designation as ASTM F963 — Consumer Safety Specification on Toy Safety and was later approved as an American National Standard (ANS).

The voluntary standard references and serves to supplement the U.S. federal mandatory standards for toys. Together, they cover more than 100 separate tests and design specifications to reduce or eliminate hazards with the potential to cause injury under conditions of normal use or reasonably foreseeable misuse. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the independent federal agency responsible for enforcing safety regulations on more than 15,000 consumer products, has the authority to develop and enforce safety regulations for toys. Since the agency’s inception in 1973, CPSC and industry have worked together in the development of standards and to monitor any potential hazards with toys already in the market. As part of the agency’s mission, the CPSC has also developed the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) to track consumer product-related injuries; currently no other country or region has a more extensive, “real time” system for tracking such data.

The voluntary standard is regularly reviewed and updated to keep pace with innovations in the market, using the most current data on injury patterns and developmental and physiological data on children. This active participation over the years by a variety of experts and interested parties — including industry, government, pediatricians and other safety experts, consumer groups and retailers — has “pooled” the expertise and been essential in maintaining the high level of safety for U.S. toy products, making them among the safest consumer products in the home, according to CPSC data.

Looking Beyond Our Own Backyard

Toys are a notoriously competitive industry. How, then, does the market leader see beyond the threat of competition to sharing its advancements in the field of toy safety? Toy safety is the one arena in which toy manufacturers put down their competitive “arms” and share information for a greater cause — the safety of children. Using the “one bad apple” theory, the toy industry sees that the greatest way to protect itself and its all-important, vulnerable consumer is through global cooperation in the area of toy safety. It is a rare and remarkable condition in which competition comes second.

Innovations in the U.S. market as well as advancements in the area of toy safety continue to keep the U.S. toy industry at the forefront of toy safety standards development worldwide. The U.S. standard serves as a model for other countries developing or improving their own standards and, indeed, its requirements have been adopted in various standards abroad.

With all these standards, however, compliance by a global industry player might seem tricky. With an eye towards global harmonization, the U.S. toy industry was a key player and active participant in the development of the international toy safety standard, now known as ISO 8124 Safety of Toys. Participants in the standards development process for toys in the U.S. continue to regularly participate and share information at the ISO level and members of the U.S. toy industry also serve as observers in European toy standards discussions within CEN, the European Committee for Standardization. The U.S.’s sophisticated data is shared with other non-U.S. standards development organizations to guide their decisions and ensure the development of hazard-based standards.

In other efforts to promote harmonization, the U.S. industry regularly updates their international counterparts on developments at home and makes recommendations for standards to be adopted worldwide. This is done through formal meetings, informal communications, educational seminars and through a toy safety testing video demonstrating the U.S. requirements.

A Global Impact

Toy safety has long been a priority of the U.S. toy industry. U.S. efforts in the development of toy safety standards have made toys among the safest consumer products in the home. And with other countries adopting the requirements of these U.S. standards, we can ensure

a similar global impact measured by the improved safety of children worldwide.

About The Toy Industry Association:

The Toy Industry Association, Inc. (TIA™), founded in 1916, is the national New York City-based trade association for U.S. producers and importers of toys, games and children’s entertainment products. TIA represents U.S. producers of toys, games, interactive products and holiday decorations. Its more than 280 members include manufacturers and importers, who account for approximately 85 percent of total domestic toy sales, as well as design firms, professional inventors and toy testing laboratories. For more information, visit the TIA website at www.toy-tia.org.

About the Author:

Joan Lawrence is vice-president of standards and regulatory affairs for the Toy Industry Association, Inc. (TIA), and serves as secretary of the ASTM F15.22 Subcommittee on Toy Safety. She is Canvass Group Chair for ANSI Z315.1, Safety Requirement for Tricycles; secretary of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO Technical Committee 181 on Toy Safety, and a member of the ANSI Consumer Interest Forum. She also serves as president-elect of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) and is former secretary of the International Council of Toy Industries.

Joan Lawrence can be reached at 212-675-1141 or
at joan@toy-tia.org.