While children’s toys should be one hundred percent safe for children to use, that isn’t always the case. Every year, accidents brought on by such toys lead to injuries, and yes, even deaths. Laws and regulations have been implemented to prevent such horrific tragedies from occurring, but still dangerous toys continue to be manufactured and sold across all of Canada.
Toy Defects
From birth to nineteen years old, one of the biggest threats to the health and wholeness of a person are consumer products. Reportedly, over fifty percent of sustained injuries among this age group Is caused by toys and other products specifically made for children. This is despite all the regulations that have been put in place for manufacturers, designers, and retailers.Hazards that have already been addressed by said regulations include, but are not limited to:
• Puncture wounds and lacerations
• Strangulation, chocking, and suffocation
• Toxic materials which could cause poisoning
• Electrocution and burns
In order for a product to be considered a toy in the eyes of the government, it will need to be made with the purpose of being used as a plaything or a learning tool.However, whether it is a design defect or a manufacturing issue, your Personal Injury Lawyer in Vaughan will be able to help you file a product liability claim and help you get the compensation that you need. It is important that you only work with an experienced lawyer.
Product Liability
Any product, including toys, will be considered unsafe if it contains one or more defect in:
• Its design
• Its manufacturing
• Its marketing or instructions
Defects in children’s products can start as early on in the process as the designing stage. If there are small parts that could pose as a choking hazard, or pointy ends or edges that could inflict cuts or puncture wounds should a child fall onto it, then its design is inherently faulty.Even a perfectly safe design, however, can lead to defects in the manufacturing stage. Faults such as inferior materials that are too easily cracked and broken to be suitable for children, who often like to bang objects together, could lead to children cutting themselves on plastic shards. Paints and finishes which contain toxic materials could be lethal to young children who still explore the world by putting everything in their mouths.
However, even when all is well in the design and manufacturing stages, a wrongfully marketed product can still pose a hazard to children. Failure to add proper warnings – both on the packaging or in the instructions – of hazards that are not immediately recognizable, such as removable parts, choking hazards can lead to injury and death.