One of the world’s most widely used toy safety standards has been revised and published as F963-16: Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety.
Leading experts in and advocates for toy safety collaborated for five years to complete the revision.
“We identified existing parts of the 2011 standard that needed clarification, updating, or alignment,” said ASTM member Joan Lawrence, senior vice president, standards and regulatory affairs, Toy Industry Association Inc., and chair of the Subcommittee on Toy Safety F15.22. “We also looked at potential emerging safety issues, new product features and new ways that toys are being used that may pose a risk to children.”
Lawrence said F15.22 recognizes the importance of its role in protecting children and continually looks to ensure that the standard supports safety and reflects the latest information on risk.
The updated standard includes the following changes:
- New requirements on battery safety
- Soaking and compression tests for magnets
- Changes to requirements for toys that involve projectiles
- New requirements for materials and toys that could expand if accidentally swallowed
- New requirements and clarifications related to microbiological safety
- Clarifications to requirements related to heavy elements in the substrate materials of toys and the addition of an optional, alternate test method for total screen testing
- A new curb impact requirement, clarification of overload and stability requirements, and a strap exemption for ride-on toys
- Clarification of requirements and supplemental guidance for impact hazards
F963 is used by manufacturers, importers, and retailers to design and sell products that comply with laws such as the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Act and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which mandates that all toys comply with the standard. The standard is also used by regulatory bodies and testing laboratories.
F963 was created in 1986 by ASTM International Committee on Consumer Products (F15), and is the modern edition of the world’s first comprehensive safety standard, which dates back to 1976.
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