Consumer advocates James A. Swartz1, nationally known trial attorney and a Director of W.A.T.C.H., and Joan E. Siff2, President of W.A.T.C.H., will present W.A.T.C.H.’s annual nominees for its “10 Worst Toys” list at a conference in Boston at The Franciscan Hospital for Children. Parents and caregivers need to know what dangers to look for when they purchase toys for children this holiday season and year-round. Unfortunately, there have been many deaths and injuries to children as a result of poorly designed and tested toys. Many of these injuries can be prevented with education about the dangers lurking in toy boxes. Numerous recalls in the past year are clearly suggestive of a broken system that needs fixing before more children are harmed. In the nearly twelve month period since W.A.T.C.H.’s last “10 Worst Toys” conference, there have been at least twenty eight (28) toy recalls representing three million eight hundred seven thousand five hundred (3,807,500) units of dangerous toys in the United Sates alone polluting the marketplace. W.A.T.C.H.’s “10 Worst Toys” list, a hands-on tool for consumers, raises awareness of the different types of hazards to avoid while toy shopping.
CLASSIC TOY HAZARDS, INCLUDING CHOKING AND STRANGULATION RISKS, REAPPEAR THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
One focus of the 2011 conference is the need for continued vigilance to protect against enduring toy hazards that could lead to serious injury or death. Awareness of classic toy dangers that reappear year after year, such as choking from small parts, strangulation from ropes, and impact injuries from rigid, plastic, parts, can save lives. Small parts on toys have been a perpetual, often deadly, and shockingly overlooked hazard. Despite W.A.T.C.H.’s continued efforts, there remain an alarming number of toys on toy store shelves with easily detachable small parts or affixed small parts that can be aspirated, ingested, or occlude a child’s airway. The sixteen (16) toys posing a choking risk recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in the preceding twelve months, representing approximately two million nine hundred eighty nine thousand nine hundred (2,989,900) defective units in the United States, highlight the continued problem of small parts reaching the marketplace.
FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE - SAFE DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE
The best weapon in the fight to prevent injuries to children continues to be safely designed and manufactured products. The burden must be on manufacturers and retailers, not consumers, to identify the known hazards before their products enter the channels of commerce. There is a dangerous assumption among toy shoppers that all toys purchased from big-name manufacturers and retailers, such as Fisher-Price and Toys R Us, are not dangerous. In fact, seeing a familiar name on a package can lead to a false sense of security that the toy enclosed is safe. While proper labeling, regulations and recalls are important for toy safety, toy manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure safe products reach the marketplace. Certain toys on toy store shelves may be in compliance with industry or regulatory standards, but are clearly dangerous, proving the gross inadequacy of existing standards. For instance, toys with parts that can detach and become lodged in a child’s throat are often not considered “small parts” by the industry. Young oral age children are at risk when they are able to break off pieces of shoddily made or inadequately designed toys. These hidden hazards, which have led to many incidents of deaths and brain damage, can still be found in newly designed toys. Moreover, recalls are reactive, not proactive. Unfortunately, many consumers never receive notice of toy recalls and may not know that a dangerous toy sits like a time bomb in their child’s toy box. Many of the toys recalled in the last year are evidence of substandard manufacturing practices as well as inadequate premarket testing that put children at risk of serious injury or death. Nineteen (19) of the recalled toys in the United States in the last twelve months, representing three million one hundred eighty nine thousand five hundred (3,189,500) units, involved toys that could easily break or had small, removable pieces. The first line of defense for toy safety should be safe design and manufacture.
BUYERS BEWARE—HAZARDOUS TOYS ABOUND ON STORE SHELVES, SERIOUS INJURIES CAN RESULT
While there has been recent increased focus on toy safety by the government, dangerous toys are not a new problem. For over three decades, W.A.T.C.H. has identified toys defectively designed or manufactured that could lead to serious injuries or death. Despite these efforts, there remain an alarming number of dangerous toys on retail shelves. In the United States, over three billion toys are sold each year. The CPSC reported that in 2009 alone, there were at least twelve (12) toy-related deaths to children under 15 years old, and an estimated two hundred fifty thousand one hundred (250,100) toy-related injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms. There is no excuse for manufacturing a toy that can kill a child since toys are embellishments of life, not necessities. Consumers have a right to expect the toys they select for their children are designed with safety as a priority. Many known hazards, such as toys with small parts, strings, projectiles, rigid materials and other defects that lead to choking, impact, strangulation, burn, impalement, laceration, and puncture injuries, continue to be found in toy stores.
The “10 Worst Toys” list is one of the ways W.A.T.C.H. continues the fight to protect children from unsafe toys against a 30 billion dollar a year toy and game industry. Protecting children will, however, take more than a list of illustrative harmful toys. Safety for children in the year 2011 and beyond will only occur when preventing injuries caused by unsafe toys becomes a number one priority for the toy industry and the government regulatory agencies.
NOMINEES FOR THE “10 WORST TOYS” LIST ILLUSTRATE HAZARDS
James Swartz detailed the potential hazards found in this year’s nominees for the “10 Worst Toys” list. The list exposes toy hazards seen year after year, despite continued efforts to educate and inform the industry. Swartz stressed that “these particular toys are illustrative of some hazards in toys being sold to consumers, and should not be considered as the only potentially hazardous toys on the market.” View Nominees for the year 2011.
1 James A. Swartz is a nationally known trial attorney, consumer advocate, and a Director of W.A.T.C.H. His law practice at Swartz &Swartz includes many well-known cases involving product liability injuries. Attorney Swartz has recently authored book chapters relating to child and product safety, including “Hazardous Playthings Causing Injury to Children”, Children and Injuries (Lawyers & Judges Pub. Co., Inc.); and “The Common Law in the New Millennium-Protecting Our Children”, Civil Trial Practice-Winning Techniques of Successful Trial Attorneys, (Lawyers & Judges Pub. Co., Inc.), as well as numerous articles. Mr. Swartz earned his J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, serving as Massachusetts State Coordinator; The Massachusetts Bar Association; The Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys; The American Bar Association; and The Boston Bar Association, among many other associations. James Swartz has appeared on such national television programs including as "Take It Personally" on CNNfn, "Newsfront" on MSNBC, "Legal Cafe" on COURT TV, "Crook and Chase" on the Nashville Network (TNN), interview on BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS television network, and in news reports on CNN, and other national news networks.
2Joan E. Siff, President of W.A.T.C.H., began presenting the “Ten Worst Toys” list with Attorney Edward M. Swartz (1934-2010) on behalf of W.A.T.C.H. in 1991. She earned her J.D. and Masters in Mass Communication from Boston University. After serving as an Assistant District Attorney in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Ms. Siff practiced product liability litigation. Ms. Siff is admitted to the bars in Massachusetts, New York and the District of Columbia. Ms. Siff is the author of "Toy Regulation Still Lagging In Protecting Children", which was published in the Leader's Product Liability, Law and Strategy in December of 1992. She serves on several non-profit boards relating to children’s causes and has given numerous media interviews on the prevention of harm to children.
