#220: Ensure Your Toys Meet Legal Safety Standards or It Can Cost You

Did you know that even if you're selling a toy product on Etsy, you are required to have it safety tested and certified? In this episode, dive deep into the crucial topic of toy safety and compliance. The first half of the episode focuses on the legal requirements set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the US. Gain an understanding of critical standards like ASTM F963 and ASTM D4236. Learn the potential financial consequences of non-compliance with real-life examples.  With 145,500 toy-related injuries reported in 2022, this episode underscores the importance of adhering to rigorous safety protocols and proper labeling to prevent accidents and ensure toys are safe for children.

The second half of the episode introduces the Design Safety Toolkit from KID (Kids In Danger), a nonprofit organization. This free mini-course teaches toy creators how to integrate safety features directly into their designs, surpassing basic compliance to achieve real-world safety.  In this episode, you'll get an overview of a cornerstone lesson from this mini-course, The Design Safety Hierarchy, and how to apply it. By adopting a safety-centric mindset from the start, toy creators can significantly reduce risks and create safer products.

If you've been questioning whether or not your toy needs safety testing, this is the episode for you. The practical tips will help you ensure your toys meet the highest safety standards. For additional resources and expert guidance, visit thetoycoach.com/220.

Episode Cliff Notes:

• In 2022, there were 145,500 toy-related injuries reported in U.S. emergency departments for children ages 12 and under.
• Learn the essential action item to review and improve one aspect of your current designs from a safety perspective
• Discover how the Design Safety Toolkit can help you develop safer products for free
• Learn the hierarchy of design safety, including how to guard against injuries and affix required warning labels
• Find out why embossing safety messages into products is a game-changer for compliance
• Uncover the key toy safety requirements you must follow according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
• Understand the financial and legal ramifications of non-compliance, including penalties up to $15 million USD.
• Hear a real-world case study that emphasizes the importance of anticipating how toys are used beyond initial safety testing

Transcript

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You are listening to making it in the toy industry. Episode number 220. Hey there toy people as gel Wade here. And welcome back to another episode of making it in the toy industry. This is a weekly podcast and this week's episode is brought to you by the toy coach.com. Tell me, what did you think of our new intro? Did you love it? A few months back, I was feeling in a major rut with this podcast. And I wanted to refresh it and we hired somebody to redo the intro music and we just went with the flow. We did something totally new, but you guys reached out and said, Azhelle, I miss the old episodes intro. And some of you even told me you would listen to old episodes just to relive the nostalgia. So I said, okay, we need to bring back the old intro, but I still wanted to refresh it. I. I wanted to modernize it. So I said, you know what? Let's go back to that composer. And we did Peter shout out to you. You are amazing. And we worked with Peter again and we redid the intro so that it would sound similar to the original and just to have a more modern, take a refresh to it. And I love it. To celebrate. We're doing a little bit of a giveaway. So here's what you gotta do. Look on your podcast app right now on apple podcasts or on Spotify for not there, go there and at the top, right? It should say, follow this podcast, hit the follow button, screenshot it, send it to me. Hello? At the toy coach.com. And then I will send you back a form to fill out your details so we can get you your toy person swag. All right. So let's dive into today's topic today. We are going to talk about something that every toy creator and designer should prioritize, and that is toy safety. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten on calls with people who are selling their toy products. Usually on a site like Etsy, or maybe they're selling it direct to customers on Instagram. And they just haven't concerned themselves at all with toy safety. And they come to me and they say, oh, Azhelle, I really want to get my product into stores. I want to start with specialty stores. But when I asked them, if they have a toy safety certification, they don't, or they assume that whatever certifications, their factory has automatically applies to them in their product. And that's a major miss. So I want to go over a few things today, I want you to have a general understanding of the toy safety requirements that your product should have. I'm based in the U S so I will talk about the us regulatory body, but we'll also talk about what you should know if you're going to sell your products in other regions outside of the U S but then we're also going to dive a little bit deeper because beyond initial toy safety regulations, there's extra steps that you can take to make sure that your product is safer when you consider everyday use. When I worked at toys, R us toys R us was known to be one of the most strict companies when it came to toy safety regulation, specifically in regards to labeling. So we would have our toys tested to the highest safety standard, and then we would label every product with, all of the recommended warnings that would come back with that report. And then there were additional warnings that didn't necessarily have to have on the packaging. But they did end up adding those just to make sure that customers and parents were aware of the potential risks with this product. There are laws that you have to follow when you are importing, selling a product. In any region, but then there's also considerations you as a business owner can make, and we're going to touch on both of those things today. We're going to do top level. So if you want to dive deeper again, I've got to encourage you to check out toy creators academy. And if you aren't sure if that is the right program for you, you can go to toy creators, academy.com, fill out an application, and then you'll be invited to a call with me to review that application. And then we can see if it's really the right program for you. All right. Let's dive in. Here's how we're going to go. So here is the flow of this episode. First, we're going to talk about the main body that governs product safety in the us. What their requirements are, why toy safety is not something you should skip over, no matter how little business you're doing. And then we're going to get into the design safety mindset and teach you. This hierarchy system developed by the the kid. Designed safety tool kit. And that process takes into account real world situations designed to arm your products with an additional level of safety. Okay. Now to talk about toy safety effectively. First, you've got to know the key organization that manages toy safety in the U S which is the consumer product safety commission or the CP. S C for short. Now the CPSC is a federal agency. They're responsible for protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products, including toys. Now, underneath the consumer product safety improvement act of 2008 they established a S T M F 9 63, and that is a mandatory consumer product safety standards for children's toys. And there are different definitions for what are toys, but basically any product designed or marketed as a play thing for children under 14 years of age will fall under that category. If your product is an arts and crafts product as some of, listening to me on this podcast, a big chunk of my career, focused on arts and crafts toys. So if your product. It is an arts and crafts product. It also has to pass a, another safety standard which is a D 4, 2, 3 6. And that is basically around the toxicity of The liquids inside of the kit. So that'll be testing the glues and the paints and even the pencils. So the different art materials themselves have to be tested and CA not. And need to be safe. Now the CPSC enforces these mandatory safety standards that all toys that are sold in the United States must meet. If you plan to sell your product in the EU. There are different safety standards and labeling requirements. So typically I would recommend if you're just starting out, you want to pick one region to focus on. And sometimes that region may not be your home region. Which will definitely make for a, more of a logistical struggle or challenge to overcome. So let's say you're based in Australia. Some of my TCA students are. And you are, your primary market is actually going to be in the us. There's a lot of other hoops you're going to have to go through. You're going to have some sort of representative in the U S to be able to do that. You're going to have to pay taxes in two places. There's a lot you'll have to do there. However the benefit to maybe first testing your toys for the U S market, is there just may be a bigger market in the U S for your product than even in your home country. Don't always assume that where you are is the safety requirements that you are going to test your toy for? It is all about where that product is going to be sold, where that product is importing to. So just keep that in mind and do not feel when you're just starting out. That you have to start in all markets, not at all. I've worked for companies that when we had 500 unit orders. In a region outside of the U S where they would say, you know what, it's not worth it. We're not going to do it. We're not going to go forward with that item for that country. It's not enough orders to offset the cost of producing the item for that country and shipping the item for that country. I say that to say, do not feel like you have to be in all markets at all times immediately upon launch it's best for you to focus on one market. Get really good there and then move on. Okay. Let's keep going. I'm going off on a tangent. Next, let's talk about why you should care about toy safety. You might be thinking a gel. I'm just creating my products online. Maybe you're hand-making them. And you might be just manufacturing your products in super small batches, selling them on Etsy and thinking, this isn't really a problem for me. But I want to give you two reasons to care about toy safety. One, this is the financial and legal ramifications that could be associated with not having your toys, safety, tested, and certified. And I'm sorry to burst your bubble. If I'm burst in bubbles right now, I do not love to get, all fear focused. That is not my vibe, but we have to be realistic. Now, according to the consumer product safety commission. The penalty for non-compliance for manufacturers and retailers can be a hundred thousand dollars per instance. And I've seen some reports saying up to $15 million. There are a few examples that we can find of, Companies actually having to pay a penalty small world toys Inc paid a $225,000 civil penalty for allegedly importing and selling toys that did not meet safety standards. We also see in 2010, Diazo a toy company was to pay $2 million. Civil penalty for violations of federal safety laws. And we're told to stop importing children's products and toys to the us. Now what's harder to find is what companies are required to follow this law. It does seem online that any company selling and selling or importing children's products are required to abide by this law. So now let me know that the important thing to know next is How do I make sure that my toy is safety compliant, or as compliant as possible? You want to make sure that product is tested for compliance by a CPSC accredited lab, unless there is some sort of exemption and we will put all the links in the show notes for this topic. Head over to the toy coach.com forward slash 2, 2 0 to grab the links from the show notes. You also want to make sure that you have some sort of permanent tracking information on your toy products, which would be referenced if there was ever a change or recall in the products that you create. If your product is in violation of the safety requirements, the office of compliance does issue a notice of violation. Whenever it determines that a company has violated a mandatory standard the company is that is notified of the violation and is told what to do. What is the correct action to take, which usually is stop sale. There is a public spreadsheet of companies. Hundreds of companies long that have been issued such violations and oftentimes it's to stop the sale of the product. Now that was the first reason I know it was a long one, but that was the first reason why you should care about toy safety, because there are legal and financial ramifications to not considering toy safety, not being prepared to prove compliance. In any way. Now. The second reason has to do with a staggering statistic of toy related injuries here in the U S so in 2022, There were 145,500 toy related injuries treated in us emergency hospital departments for children, ages 12 and under, according to a report done by the CPSC. And we will link that report also in the show notes. While the 2022 CPSC report doesn't detail the specific injuries. Previous reports indicated that there were lacerations contusions and had face injuries. Now, the number one leading cause of Toi related deaths in young children under the age of four is actually choking or asphyxiation. Associated with small parts, balls or balloons. Labeling our product. It is so important. So if you are producing some sort of product that you're selling on Etsy, you really should understand the labeling requirements. That the CPSC puts out because your product needs to be properly labeled. It definitely needs to be properly tested. But it also needs to be properly labeled for use. Now in 2022, there were 11 toy related deaths involving kids 14 and younger. And I did read some of the reports. And at least two of the toy related deaths had to do with scooters and scooter activity around large vehicles. So that is not necessarily something that is a toy safety that we, as the creators of toys could avoid. But it is still good to understand that these products that we're creating need to be something that a kid can be left alone with for some time and not be at risk. Age grading is such a crucial aspect of toy safety. The CPSC recommends that toys be labeled with the appropriate age recommendations based on the potential hazards that they present. Because for example, a construction set with small parts could be great for a ten-year-old. But it could be a choking hazard for a toddler. So having those labeling warnings on it and the age requirements for the product. Can help parents and caregivers ensure that children are playing with toys that are developmentally appropriate and minimize safety risks. To close out this section on the CPSC and legal toy safety requirements. I just want to say all children's toy products must be third-party tested for compliance. And the lab that they are tested with has to be a CPS C accepted laboratory. An example would be Intertek or UL. Based on a passing test result, then you would be getting issued a children's product certificate. If you don't get that, you might get a report back that says you have to change something and then you'll have to resubmit for testing. If your product changes after you've been issued that certificate, you will likely have to resubmit. And there is also a chance, depending on the complexity of your product, that you may have to undergo multiple tests. For example, I'd mentioned earlier the arts and labeling requirements. That is a different standard than just the toy safety standard and a product that is an arts and crafts and a toy has to pass those standards. There are a variety of other toys standards that you'll see. When you go to the mention in this episode links you'll see there are different toy safety standards that you should also consider. Okay. Now that we have talked about. The legal requirements for toy safety. And we've gotten that out of the way, and I hope that you're going to move forward and make changes if you're not already doing things the right way that you will do them the right way. Now I want to dive into real-world safety considerations because. While meeting the legally required baseline standards is essential. Responsible toy companies often go beyond those standards. They test their toys throughout the design and development process. In order to identify and address other potential hazards before they reach consumers. All toys must meet regulated safety standards by their region, which includes testing and labeling to ensure that the toy hoses no harm under normal use conditions. However, real life is not always normal and children are innovative in their play and unexpected uses can lead to just unforeseen incidents. That's why some companies choose to exceed those standards, these companies aim to ensure safety, even in the least expected scenarios. Let's talk about a real world example. I won't name the company, but I'll talk about the issue. There is this company that produced a product that kids were meant to build big structures with and the components that were used to keep those structures together kept breaking and the way that they were breaking caused a danger to children. Now, the product passed safety testing, the product had the correct certificates. But by use from real kids by extensive and forceful use. The product broken in a way that became dangerous and became harmful. And that became a major issue for the consumers and they would talk about it. Constantly. Till eventually, so many of them reported it, that the product was reopened and brought under new consideration. Now this situation was an eyeopener in the importance of anticipating real world use, which leads us into the second part of today's discussion. The design safety hierarchy that I mentioned earlier now, year after year, despite the best intentions of designers and developers over a hundred thousand children are injured by toys in some way. Now, some of these incidents likely could have been mitigated with some better foresight and understanding of how toys are really going to be used. At the home that they will be used in that is where I want to bring up this design safety hierarchy concept that is taught in the kid safety design toolkit. And you'll find the link to this tool kit in the show notes, the toy coach.com forward slash two 20. This is a free mini course that you can take, you could finish it. And one day. A design, the safety mindset. Involves more than just knowing the rules. It's also about predicting and designing for how children will actually interact with toys. Having a design safety mindset and focusing on the design safety hierarchy can be looked at in three levels at the very top level. Is eliminating the potential hazards underneath that guarding to protect against injury and then underneath that warning about hazard. So let's talk about all each of those levels in depth. At the top of a design safety mindset, the best and most effective thing you want to do is to design, to eliminate hazards. This is the most desirable outcome. If a hazard doesn't exist, obviously it can't cause harm. So that might mean rethinking a product's functionality or form drastically. So for example, if you're designing a crib, consider how traditional folding mechanisms it might've failed and explore non folding designs that might increase safety and stability. Now there's a reason I give a crib in that last example. The creator of the design safety tool kit is a nonprofit organization named kid, which stands for kids in danger. And it was founded after a tragic incident where a portable crib collapsed and actually claimed the life of a young child. So ever since. Being founded. Kid has pushed for safer product designs. And that is why this nonprofit organization has launched the design safety toolkit, this free mini course to help you develop better and safer products. Now the next level to the design safety hierarchy is designing to guard against injury. Now, if you can't eliminate a hazard or you've successfully eliminated all the hazards that you can, the next goal in the design safety hierarchy is to guard against injury. So this is where you would add protective features that would prevent or reduce the risk of injury. Even in unexpected scenarios, for example, maybe adding a broader Stabler base to a high chair to prevent tipping or incorporating an automatic shutoff feature in an electronic toy to prevent overheating. Again, the design safety mindset involves more than just knowing the rules of how a toy is supposed to be used, but it's also about predicting and designing for how children will actually interact with those toys and things that could actually happen inside of the home. So let's think about an example, consider a stuffed toy, like a stuffed animal that is regulated for fabric safety and tear resistant and flame retardants. Yet real world use might involve a child sleeping with it, dragging it outside and even using it to play in ways that weren't really intended by the designer. How can you adjust the design of that plush to make it safe in all of those different scenarios? That is some of what's covered in the mini course, the kids' safety design toolkit. The different modules tackle what to do in different environments where children's products are used home, sleeping outside and in play. Every module of the safety design toolkit provides insights on how to enhance product safety in real world settings. So if you're interested in grabbing this free mini course, head over to the toy. coach.com forward slash 2 2 0. Check for the mention in this episode section at the bottom of the page and click to register for this free mini course, take a screenshot and show me that you've registered and I will give you seven days access to module, one of toy Cretors academy. So yeah, don't miss out on that opportunity. Now the third level of design safety hierarchy is a fixing required warning labels. Finally, if a hazard cannot be eliminated or guarded against in any other way, or maybe you've done all you can to eliminate threats and guard against potential hazards. The next thing to do is to inform the users of the product through clear and durable warning labels. Now. These warning label should be placed where they are always visible, not just on packaging that gets discarded. In the design safety tool kit that you can get. If you head over to the show notes, you're going to learn how to integrate safety features intuitively. For example, you could think through ways that safety warnings can remain on products, once they're out of the box and assembled and in use and not just on the packaging, how can a product continually remind the user whether the direct user is the child or the direct user as the parent using a product for the child or with the child? How can you keep the safety warnings that important to know long-term on the product to continue to remind the parent or the child of the potential danger and how to avoid it. Let's think about a real world example where the placement of a warning label takes into account. The humans actually interacting with it. And to do that, we can think about designing a high chair. So imagine a parent buys a high chair, they take it out of the box, they assemble it, and then they discard the box. You've made a sturdy high chair and it is safety tested and it was properly labeled to let the parent know that it shouldn't be climbed upon. But it's not just about making it sturdy and having that right. Labeling at time of purchase, but it's about envisioning every scenario. So what if that high chair is placed on a slippery surface? What if a sibling climbs on it. So is there a way that you could integrate warnings through visual icons? On the product itself to continually remind the parent and the kid of the potential hazards and dangers of that product, that kind of design thinking is the design thinking that is going to be taught to you. In the design safety toolkit. Again, this is a free mini course offered by the nonprofit kid. K I D kids in danger to grab the link, head over to the toy coach.com. Forward slash two 20. And again, screenshot it show me that you joined and you will get a seven day pass into toy creator's academy as well. Understanding the legal requirements for toy safety. Is paramount. We've got to do that. Applying the right labeling to those toy products. Of course, we have to do that as well, but if you want to take it the next step further, you really want to protect our kids. You've got to think about how you apply those principles practically in the design phase of your product. Because we want to make sure that when these products are in homes and out of boxes, that parents and kids are still being told the right and wrong way to interact with them. I just want to throw out one more idea or example that you could do. Let's say that you are developing an injection molded product. Maybe it's a building block or maybe it's a toy car and that product isn't going to be safe for a three and under, and you are definitely going to have that listed on the package. You could consider also having something embossed into the mold of the toy itself. And that is not a requirement at the moment by the CPS C. But that is an extra step that you, as a manufacturer could take to make sure that product goes above and beyond and reminding the users of the best ways to use it. The safest ways to use it. Before I jumped into the summary of today's episode. I'd like to take a quick break and give a shout out to a new listener, Creative Crayons Workshop. Creative Crayons Workshop has been seen on ABC TV live with Kelly and mark. And they have creative coloring solutions for everyone they're most known for their color in tablecloths, but also are coming out with color in pajamas. I want to give a shout out to the founder because she has gone through so much. Up and down in the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship. So if you're looking to support a small business, check out creative Kranz workshop on Instagram or head over to the toy, coach.com/ 2, 2 0. And we will put the links in the show notes, because I really want you guys to check out and support Creative Crayons Workshop. The mama is so sweet and we had the best conversation on Instagram, just chatting away. And now she is a new listener of the podcast. I'm so happy to have you here. Okay. Let's dive into our recap of what we learned today and stick around because you're not going to want to miss the brand new outro that we have for this podcast. So don't leave yet. Okay. Let's get into our conclusion of today's episode. If you are selling products in the us, your product has to pass the toy safety requirements put forth by the consumer product safety commission. Children's product is defined by a product made for kids 14 and under. Your product has to comply with all of the children's product safety rules. It has to be tested for compliance by a C P S C accepted accredited laboratory. I mentioned Intertek and U L S two options. You've got to have a written children's product certificate that provides evidence of the products compliance, a certificate your factory had before you started working with them. Is good for them, not good for your product. And you also have to have that permanent tracking information to fix the product and its packaging where applicable. Now we do actually have two other great episodes around the topic of toy safety. So check out the toy coach.com forward slash 43. too. Dive into toy safety, a little bit more in depth. But I will put the I will put the link in the show notes from this episode, as well as you can dive into more episodes on toy safety. Aside from following the required laws and regulations for whatever region you're importing and selling your toys into. We also learned today about having a designing for safety mindset As laid out in the design safety toolkit created by kid or kids in danger, the nonprofit organization. Implementing a safety centric approach from the outset of your design process, as it's illustrated in the tool kits, modules can significantly mitigate your safety risks, specifically the risks that come up in everyday use that we just might not think of right away. Okay, your action item to do for this week. For you to review one of your current designs and just identify one aspect that could be improved from a safety perspective. I would love to hear about it. If you want to send me an message on Instagram, I do check all of my messages. And if you could please give a follow-up to this podcast, wherever you're listening, it's just one click on your Spotify or your apple podcast account. Tap follow. It will mean so much to me and help this podcast continue to grow. As always, thank you so much for spending this time with me today. I know your time is valuable and that there are a ton of podcasts out there. So it truly means the world to me that you tuned into this one. Until next week, I'll see you later. Toy people.