Teddies for Tragedies Safety Standards

British Standard Bear

Teddies, not up to these standards can be dangerous and won't take years of play.
and you won't be popular with teddy collectors who spend hours correcting mistakes.

When I first started looking for homes for teddies, I had several disappointing replies stating teddies were unhygienic etc.
So I spent time looking into the British Standard; hence this page.
With the expansion of the EU, several recipient countries must now comply with EU regulations, so standards are even more important

BS EN 71 Safety of Toys

British Standards Institution (BSI)

	© BSI Education Soft Toys	What it means for our teddies
Materials	"Material used in toys shall be visually clean and free from infestation. The material is assessed visually by the unaided eye rather than under magnification."	Only use clean new wool, if it's been in your wool bag a while wash it first!
Materials	"Toys containing fibres of straightened length greater than 50 mm and attached to a fabric base shall carry a warning. "Caution! Not suitable for children under 10 months due to long hair."	We don't know the ages of the children so, don't use angora-type wool.
Filling	"Soft filling materials shall not contain any hard or sharp contaminants, such as metal particles, nails, needles and splinters."	Make sure you take all the pins out!
Filling	"Filled soft toys must not produce surface flash when near a flame."	Polyester filling is fine.
Seams	"Seams and joints are tested as part of the whole toy. If a seam splits, the fillings can become a danger as a child may choke on them."	Sew them up well.
Features	"All features must be securely attached."	Embroider the features.
Attachments	"Toys with loose attachments (such as ribbons) for children under 36 months should have recommendations to remove them before giving to the young child."	Remember to sew the scarf on securely (but only at the back of the neck so children can play at untying it).

Print page