ARE THE TOYS YOU ARE GIVING YOUR CHILDREN THIS CHRISTMAS SAFE

 

Okay it is Christmas, a time when we give presents to each other.    We are sure, quite a few of you will be shopping online and in the stores this weekend for toys for your children and grandchildren.  When Christmas morning comes no doubt you will be able to sharing the joy and excitement on your children’s and grandchildren’s face as they open their toys.

Toys are meant to provide enjoyment and education for children of all ages, however they can also provide a great deal of danger. Small children, when left unsupervised, can sustain injuries to their eyes, mouth, throat, ears, arms, or legs, depending on the toy.

There are vigorous and essential safety requirements that manufacturers must make sure they undertake before they sell toys and  those warning signs and instructions are not attached to toys and packaging for fun.

Most children’s toys are actually very safe. However, every year, over 35,000 children under 15 go to A&E after tripping over, swallowing, or otherwise injuring themselves with a toy or part of a toy. Most of these accidents happen to toddlers between one and five.

One of the ways you can ensure that the toy you are purchasing for your child/grandchild this Christmas are safe is to look for toy labels - the most important one being the European Community (CE) symbol. A toy with this label is certified as meeting the requirements of the EC Toy Safety Directive.

So what do you do if your child is injured this year while playing with a toy? Your  first priority is to get your child medical attention.  Once you have ensured that your child is in safe hands, take a good look at the toy that caused the accident, is it defective or was it poorly designed, could something have been missed in the testing and quality control process, and, is this the reason that your child was hurt?.  If it is you may have a claim for personal injury.  Do not throw the toy away, if you still have the packaging keep it and take photographs of your child’s injuries.  

 

If you think you may have a claim and you need help as a litigant in person please ring us and we will do all we can to help you prepare your claim.

Don’t forget if you are concerned about the safety of any toy, you can report it straight away to your local trading standards office, who have a responsibility in law to protect consumers from unsafe products - and could prosecute the suppliers if a toy turns out to be unsafe.

The information herewith gives general guidance. It should not be regarded or relied upon as a complete or authoritative statement of the law or treated as a substitute for specific legal advice concerning individual situations.