My name is Tim Saylor and I am the Product Integrity & Compliance Manager for a small toy company. My primary responsibilities are to make sure that the products our factories manufacture are safe, meet all federal & state regulations and are of the highest possible quality. This means rigorous testing to determine the durability & reliability of our products and consistency in manufacturing. It means testing and retesting to be sure that our products have no lead, phthalates or other hazardous elements or chemicals. It means working with our design and product development team to carry out substantial design reviews and assessments to prevent any chance of physical hazards from ever surfacing.
I am a member of ASTM, an industry standard organization that is constantly expanding and creating the most stringent safety standards possible. I have also participated in and been a panelist at safety symposiums in the US & China. I work very closely with my factories in China to help them better understand the constant changing global landscape of toy safety, as well as brainstorming with our factories to make changes that could further improve their efficiency and focus on safety management.
I think my years of experience, both working in a laboratory as well as in manufacturing have given me the tools and skill set to not only apply them to my professional life, but to my own buying decisions and sharing what I know with others, who don’t work in my field. The goal of this site is to simply dispel the myths about Chinese made goods, misinformation from various media sources about the current safety of toys and help people make better buying decisions when in the market for toys and juvenile products. Most often, unsafe toys have nothing to do with the factory that manufactured them.
I hope that the information I provide is not only informative and useful, but helps identify some really cool and safe products that are available in the market.
The opinions expressed in my blog do not necessarily represent the opinions of my employers or associates.
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Hi Tim. Sounds like you are very educated in toy safety and regulations. So I have a quick question for you: I have developed a toy bag that acts as a play area for small toys, which can be scooped up in seconds. This decreases the need to pick up every tiny little toy individually. However, it has a rope that intertwines through grommets on the edge of the circular material. (I’m happy to send you a picture if I’m not describing it correctly). Thinking of the safety of ropes and children has me discouraged that this product will not be safe. Advice?
Thank you so much.
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Jennifer, you have a legitimate concern about the safety of the ropes on your toy play matt. The relevant US safety standard for toys is ASTM F963-08 and if your play matt has any play value, it would be covered under this standard. However, if a product or category of products has no published standard, it doesn’t mean that the CPSC can’t recall them. In fact, there is a clause in the Code of Federal Regulations that allows the CPSC to recall any product that they feel is at risk of injury to consumers.
The toy safety standard is probably the most appropriate safety standard, since your play matt will be the surface of play and provide some level of play value. If you could send a picture that would be great, since it will help in deciding whether or not this standard would apply to your product and if so, if it stands a chance of failing to meet the safety requirements. The only true way to determine if it will pass the requirements is to have an accredited lab test the openings in the ropes and/or ropes and edge of the play matt. Just because you have openings doesn’t mean that it is unsafe; the size of the openings along with the intended age grade is key in determining the applicability of the requirements.
My email address is dtsaylor@yahoo.com