Product Safety Quality
We never lose sight of the fact that product safety is essential to upholding our consumers’ trust and expectations. That's why, as creators of toys, games and entertainment content, we embed quality and safety into every product and play experience. In addition to meeting all applicable regulatory standards, we set our own rigorous standards — and then challenge ourselves to continuously improve and exceed them.
consumer product recalls in 2021
Proprietary Safety and Reliability Standards support our global Quality Assurance program
Parents and caregivers trust Hasbro to make products that are not only of high quality but also safe. We believe quality and safety go hand in hand, so we follow a rigorous quality assurance process for all Hasbro products. Our quality and safety standards are applied at every stage of production, from design and engineering to manufacturing and packaging. Our products are designed to comply with all applicable product safety requirements around the world and we employ industry best practices to continually improve our design and manufacturing processes. These high standards and processes apply to all third-party factories that make our products around the world.
Every Hasbro product, wherever it is manufactured, must pass two tests: (1) meet all relevant national and international standards and, (2) satisfy our own safety and quality standards, which are often tougher than global requirements.
We employ approximately 170 proprietary Safety and Reliability Standards (SRS) in our global Quality Assurance program. Our designers, engineers, and quality assurance personnel around the world use these standards to create and test our products. The SRS combine U.S., European, and international safety standards, tailored to meet our specific needs as a toy and gaming manufacturer. They incorporate requirements set by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), European Committee for Standardization (CEN), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and are updated as regulations and standards change. In addition, all Hasbro suppliers maintain ISO 9001 certifications.
To ensure that our third-party factories are in compliance with our standards, we require our Tier 1 suppliers be certified through our Four Ticket process, monitored through onsite visits (done remotely using technology in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions), and audited at least annually using our proprietary Hasbro Integrated Quality Audit. Tier 2 high-risk material suppliers are also subject to similar certification and follow ups. We also monitor product safety, compliance, and reliability through periodic tests and quality checks at multiple stages of the manufacturing process, conducted by third-party independent laboratories as well as by vendors’ specially trained and approved staff, and by our own experts. In addition, we train our Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers on our quality assurance expectations at least twice a year, or more as needed to address any changes to Hasbro’s standards and policies.
We put our standards into practice through a five-step quality assurance process that requires comprehensive testing or review at every stage of our product lifecycle: Product Concept, Design and Development, Production, Market Monitoring, and Continuous Improvement.
After we approve a toy or game concept for development, our specialist engineers specify in a Test Plan the design and manufacturing SRS the product must meet.
We design products and create samples according to the Test Plan and communicate product-specific requirements to our manufacturing vendors.
Our QA teams check samples during production to ensure they meet SRS requirements and audit samples and finished toys and games throughout each shift. Independent outside labs also test our products.
We monitor and respond to new information on product quality or safety with a focus on consumer feedback and emerging hazards.
We continuously improve our quality assurance and product safety processes and work with partners to set and comply with standards.
Age Grading Guidelines
Hasbro designs toys and games for children of all ages; however, not all our products are suitable for every child. Our toys and games are age graded using CPSC and the ISO guidelines to guide caregivers and consumers when purchasing our products and also to ensure children get the most out of their play experiences. We also often take into account historical and market data, as well as child testing, when making age grade decisions.
Materials Content
We continually explore ways to improve the ingredients of our products, while always complying with applicable global laws and regulations. We consider health and safety factors for all materials we use throughout a product’s lifecycle — from Research & Development (R&D) through manufacturing, marketing, storage and supply, use, and disposal, reuse, and recycling. The results of this analysis are reflected in the specific standards we develop for every product, through our quality assurance program, and include:
• Lead and Heavy Metals – We strive to minimize the use of lead and other heavy metals in our products and go beyond global regulations for heavy metals. Our comprehensive testing and inspection processes ensure our internal standards are followed, which often exceed global regulations.
• Bisphenol-A (BPA) – We design our toys to avoid BPA use; however, since it is possible for BPA to exist in trace amounts slightly higher than this minimum, we do not market our toys as “BPA-free.
• Phthalates – All Hasbro products comply with applicable phthalates global laws and regulations, including REACH regulation in Europe and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).
• Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) – Hasbro does not use BFR chemicals in our products. Instead, we design our products to pass regulatory flammability requirements without the use of BFRs.
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) – When assessing alternate materials for use in our products, including potential alternates to PVC, we must balance a myriad of factors including cost effectiveness, consumer value, play experience, and compliance with our stringent quality and safety standards. Our packaging, however, does not use PVC; PVC was removed from our packaging in 2013.
Chemicals Management
Hasbro maintains a comprehensive chemicals management program which includes robust Safety and Reliability Procedures (SRPs) for all Hasbro products. These procedures include a restricted substance list (RSL) containing more than 6,900 chemicals which are not allowed in Hasbro products. Hasbro’s RSL includes chemicals of concern as identified through global laws and regulations, chemicals identified by Hasbro, and chemicals whose use is not restricted but may be reportable to regulatory authorities. We disclose and register all substances based on regulatory statutes, including substances of concern as identified by various states and regulatory bodies.
Hasbro monitors and complies with all global regulations that limit and restrict chemical usage including the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), U.S. Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), European Toy Safety Directive (TSD), and REACH, RoHS and CLP regulations. In addition to these global regulations, Hasbro also complies with various U.S. state chemical laws and reporting requirements.
All Hasbro products are required to be manufactured in accordance with the company’s specifications and procedures, which includes chemicals review and approval prior to manufacturing based on Bills of Substances (BOS) reporting, RSL screening and Chemical Safety Assessments. Hasbro chemical and engineering teams work with our vendors to address and eliminate any chemicals listed on Hasbro’s RSL prior to production.
Learn more
Read our latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report for more information about Hasbro’s commitment to product safety.
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