Since we’re now into the month of December, the celebration can officially get underway! It’s Safe Toys and Gifts Month, and who needs a better reason for a party? Last year there wasn’t much to party about when it came to kids and safety, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Some 240,000 toy injuries resulted in a trip to the emergency room, with 80,000 of those injuries to kids under the age of five. The ‘most hurt’ part of the body? That would be the face, with a whopping 45 percent of injuries taking place in the noggin. No fun at all!
In an effort to round out the year by promoting a little better focus on safety, Prevent Blindness has named the month of December Safe Toys and Gifts Month. The group’s recommendations for purchases this month double perfectly as guidelines to share with your clients any time they are sourcing child-appealing products. After all, product safety is not just for the holidays!
Here are recommendations compiled by Prevent Blindness to ensure toy and gift purchases are safe, during the holidays and any other time:
- Read all warnings and instructions on the box.
- Ask yourself if the toy is right for your child's ability and age. Consider whether other smaller children may be in the home and may have access to the toy.
- Avoid purchasing toys with sharp or rigid points, spikes, rods, or dangerous edges.
- Check the lenses and frames of children's sunglasses; many can break and cause injuries. Make sure they have UV-blocking lenses.
- Buy toys that will withstand impact and not break into dangerous shards.
- Avoid toys that shoot or include parts that fly off. BB guns are NOT toys.
- Do not give toys with small parts to young children. Young kids tend to put things in their mouths, increasing the risk of choking. If any part of a toy can fit in a toilet paper roll, the toy is not appropriate for children under the age of three.
- Do not purchase toys with long strings or cords, especially for infants and very young children, as these can become wrapped around a child’s neck.
- Always dispose of uninflated or broken balloons immediately.
- Do not purchase toys with small magnets. Rare Earth Magnets, of course, have had lots of publicity in our industry because they are so harmful if swallowed.
Moving on to other industry news, let’s talk about Samsung. Since a worker on the South Korean Samsung chip production line first died of leukemia in 2007, other workers have been claiming that Samsung should provide compensation, apologize, and come up with measures to prevent further disease outbreaks relating to working in the chip factories. Now, more than a decade later, Samsung has done just that.
Samsung Electronics Co. made a formal apology at the end of November to all victims of work-related diseases who were employed at the company's chip and display production lines. The world's top chipmaker and the Supporters for the Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry (SHARPS), a group of victims, agreed to accept any decision made by a mediation committee in July. Earlier in November, the mediation committee announced the settlement that included compensation of up to $150 million RMB (which translates to $132,000 USD) per illness. The compensation plan also covers congenital diseases suffered by children of the victims. The agreement, however, did not acknowledge that the workplace environment is directly related to the diseases afflicting some employees.
Samsung Electronics President and CEO Kim Ki-nam, expressed deep regrets on behalf of the company to the victims, claiming that Samsung will make every effort to comply with the compensation plan. "Beloved colleagues and families have suffered for a long time, but Samsung Electronics failed to take care of the matter earlier," Kim said. "We lacked being considerate of such pains and promptly settled the issue.”
"Samsung Electronics also did not fully and completely manage potential health risks at our chip and liquid-crystal display production lines. Today, we wish to express a sincere apology to the workers who suffered from diseases, as well as their families," Kim added.
Jeff Jacobs has been an expert in building brands and brand stewardship for 40 years, working in commercial television, Hollywood film and home video, publishing, and promotional brand merchandise. He’s a staunch advocate of consumer product safety and has a deep passion and belief regarding the issues surrounding compliance and corporate social responsibility. He retired as executive director of Quality Certification Alliance, the only non-profit dedicated to helping suppliers provide safe and compliant promotional products. Before that, he was director of brand merchandise for Michelin. You can find him volunteering as a Guardian ad Litem, traveling the world with his lovely wife, or enjoying a cigar at his favorite local cigar shop. Connect with Jeff on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram, or reach out to him at jacobs.jeffreyp@gmail.com.