Dangerous toys could spark number of accident claims
Isn't it funny looking back at your childhood and thinking about all the different toys you had and activities you used to do with your friends for fun? Climbing trees, going head first down a slide, riding space hoppers and jumping on pogo sticks to name a few. They all seemed like such fun at the time but little did we realise the potential dangers that we were being exposed to.
For example, looking around at children's play parks today, it appears that all the risky apparatus from the 1980s has long been removed. Did you ever play on one of those hexagon-shaped pieces of metal apparatus with lots of holes to climb through? No? I remember spending hours playing inside one of these with my friends at the park; rusty and usually filled with rain water, I never thought that I could suffer a personal injury for which my parents could have later made an accident claim for.
And it's not just at the public playground that a child could potentially injure themselves; toys and equipment in the home could also inflict injuries, for which many parents would want to make compensation claims for. In a recent study carried out by Sicher Leben, which has been featured on www.net-consumers.org, skipping ropes, marbles and scooters are amongst some of the most reoccurring objects that play a role in causing near fatal accidents involving children.
With the correct supervision and care, a great number of these accidents could have been prevented. However, previous accident claims have been made by parents for serious personal injuries caused by faulty products.
Each year, thousands of toys are recalled by manufactures and in January 2007, Geometix International LLC recalled 40,000 sets of MagneBlocks Construction Toys after it was discovered that some of the small magnets found in the blocks could easily fall out. The manufacturers warned that if two or more magnets were swallowed, they could potentially connect and cause an internal blockage, which could then lead to a possible fatal accident.
A similar risk was reported in 2006 when the US manufacturer Mattel recalled 2.4 million Polly Pocket doll sets after several children, aged between two and eight, suffered internal personal injuries by swallowing tiny magnets. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov) received 170 reports from parents who said that the magnets, which are embedded in the hands and feet of the dolls as well as their clothing and other accessories, had fallen out whilst their children were playing with the toys.
Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that such toy accidents are uncommon in the home. In October 2006, a study carried out by the law firm Lovells stated that, just one year on from the introduction of the European Product Safety Directive in the UK, the number of product recalls being reported to the European Commission were at an all time high. In particular, the number of toy recalls increased over the period of 18 months with 25% of all recalls being made for faulty toys.
Roy Freeman, product liability partner at Lovells, said, "The trend for increasing product recalls continues to climb sharply – with no sign yet of leveling off. Producers are becoming more aware of their obligations under the new law, and enforcement authorities are increasingly active in interpreting dangerous products in the supply chain."
If a parent happens to notice that a toy or piece of equipment is faulty, they should contact the manufacture immediately and alert them to the danger.
To ensure that you have limited the risk of a serious accident and subsequently having to contact personal injury solicitors to make a compensation claim, some of the following guidelines can be used when purchasing toys.
What to look out for?
* Toys should have a "CE" mark and provide the address of the manufactures
* Toys should have clear instructions
* Parents should try to buy their children's toys from reputable sellers where they can return the product if a fault is discovered
* Toys should be suitable for the age of the child
* Check for warning notices, which can sometimes be labeled on the packaging
* Be careful with second hand toys as they may not have any instructions or safety warnings
All of the above may not prevent an accident from happening but these points could limit the risk of you having to contact a compensation solicitor to make an accident claim.
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Source: ArticleTrader.com