The organization doesn’t conduct tests à la Consumer Reports or collect injury/death reports about certain toys. Rather, director James Swartz says it relies on years of knowledge about industry standards, recalls, and statistics and consults with a local children’s hospital.
“Parents and caregivers do not have laboratories for testing toys,” he told Fast Company. “We shop for toys, the same way parents and caregivers do, to survey the marketplace. The 10 Worst List provides examples of types of hazards acknowledged by the industry over decades—small parts, choking hazards, and other examples of hazards as represented by the nominees on the list.”
