Safety warning over children’s swing

By Anthony O. Miller

AN INJURY warning about the dangers of Fisher-Price “Lift-and-Lock” outdoor children’s swing is being issued in Cyprus, following the US recall of 2.5 million of the toys, Consumer Protection Centre Director George Mitides said yesterday.

US-based toy maker Fisher-Price ordered the recall after receiving at least 110 reports of children falling or wriggling out of the swings due to a defective seat-locking mechanism. At least 38 of the children were hurt, some seriously.

One suffered a fractured skull, two others concussions, another a broken leg, another a broken arm, two incurred broken collarbones and others needed stitches to close cuts in their foreheads, the Press Association reported yesterday.

Parents, kindergartens, day-care centres and ‘party houses’ for children will be warned the “Lift-and-Lock” swings are not safe for the children aged nine months to three years for whom they were designed, Mitides said.

Fisher-Price claims the swing’s defect is readily remedied with a kit containing an extra restraining belt to keep children from falling or squirming out of the swing’s seats.

The Cyprus distributor for Fisher-Price said he had not had any reports of children hurt using the swings. His claim echoed that of the UK spokeswoman for Fisher-Price.

The local distributor said “Lift-and-Lock” swings were no longer being imported or sold in Cyprus and had not been for about 18 months. He added that “Lift-and-Lock” swings were not in the US-based toy maker’s current catalogue.

However, both the distributor and Mitides acknowledged that some of the swings might still be in use in Cyprus.

For this reason, Mitides said he planned to inform Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis of the toy’s hazardous construction and the need to issue an injury warning to consumers.

He indicated the warning would be issued later yesterday.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.