Safety of Children’s Toys

Standards for toy safety ensure toys are hazard free and safe to play with, a major concern for parents and carers.  These are vital safety standards that reduce the risk of a child being injured by unsafe equipment, dangerous substances and choking hazards.  Standards are the documents that set out specifications and procedures designed to ensure products, services and systems are safe, reliable and consistently perform the way they are intended to.

There are a number of standards designed to minimize potential toy hazards.  The Standards Australia Technical Committee CS-018 Safety of Children’s Toys have published a series of standards, the most recent being:

• AS/NZS ISO 8124.1-2010/Cor 1:2011 Safety of toys – Part 1: Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties.  This amendment to the standard adopts ISO 8124-1:2009 with national variations to specify general safety, construction and labelling requirements and test methods for toys intended for use by children, aged from birth to 14 years.
• AS/NZS ISO 8124.6:2011 Safety of toys – Swings, slides and similar activity toys for indoor and outdoor family domestic use.  This standard gives requirements and test methods for swings, slides and many other activity toys, thereby ensuring fun and safe playtime.

The volunteer CFA representative Robyn Easton has been actively involved with this technical committee since 2002.  The committee is currently working on a number of projects including activity toys; concerns about impaction and impalement; and projectiles, rotors and propellers.

More information About the Standards Project or CFA’s Standards Representatives (including how to get involved in being a representative) please see those links or contact CFA’s Standards Coordinator standards@consumeraction.org.au.