enfield, conn. -- Gone is the 40-hour workweek at Specialized Technology Resources Inc. Boxes of toys are piling up in the middle of its testing lab, workers are coming in on weekends, and product testers who normally would check tools or candles are working on chess sets and plastic cars.
Business is bustling since the recent recalls of millions of toys. Management at the international product testing company is considering adding to its staff of 1,600.
"Right now, we're using everybody in toy land," said Linda Root, manager of the company's toy-testing lab here.
The recalls have toy companies from the largest producer Mattel Inc. to small importers clamoring to hire companies to test and retest their toys as a way to allay consumer fears ahead of the key holiday shopping season.
Several testing firms operate worldwide, including Switzerland-based SGS Group, which has 48,000 workers in 1,000 locations, Bureau Veritas Group, with 26,000 employees in 700 locations, and London-based Intertek Group, which employs 20,000 people in 100 countries.
Mattel's first recall this summer, 1.5 million toys tainted with lead paint, was a wake-up call for the industry, said Sue DeRagon, Specialized Technology Resources' associate director of toys and premiums. Since then, Mattel and others have recalled more than 20 million toys for high lead levels or for small magnets that children can swallow, prompting toy companies to do more tests.
That's kept the lab, housed in an old textile mill in this town north of Hartford, Conn., plenty busy. Toy companies are sending samples of finished toys to test, especially for lead and magnets, which can be dangerous if they are swallowed and join together in the digestive system.
Workers conduct a battery of tests on each toy, based either on U.S. toy safety standards or more stringent criteria, if that's what a company wants.
To check for lead, lab workers use a razor blade to scrape off paint from the toy's surface. They need one-tenth of a gram of paint to test, which can be a challenge when dealing with dice that have only painted dots or a chess set with lots of nooks and crannies.
"It is very tedious work. It's not easy," Root said. "You do have to pay attention so you don't lose fingers and cut yourself in any way. There is no easy way of getting it off. It can take hours."
