My older kids love LEGO, so my younger kid is also very keen on playing with them, rather than only playing with DUPLO. I am however concerned that it might be risky for him.
Most pieces are either too small or too large to be, at least in my opinion, frankly harmful. It appears that fatal or life-threatening incidents may have occurred with LEGO in the remote or recent past, such as this one: Boy, 5, chokes on Lego block.
Is anybody aware of any other incident?
I'm aware of two serious incidents, but not life-threatening.
One, a young child put a rubber tire on their finger like a ring and went to sleep. This restricted bloodflow and caused swelling. IIRC, an ER visit was necessary but there was no lasting damage.
Another, a child removed a piece using their teeth, and accidentally bit through the element, which stuck to their teeth necessitating oral surgery.
I know multiple children have had bricks stick to their teeth. Always teach your children to use a brick separator or an adult, and never use their mouth or utensils (knives/forks) to pull pieces apart.
As for small parts, you should generally be safe if you follow the age guidelines. Sets with choking hazards are labeled as such.
To my knowledge, there have been no reports of fatal incidents involving LEGO toys, nor invasive surgeries.
DUPLO toys meet very high safety standards for younger children, if you're concerned. They're designed to withstand a great deal of force to prevent breakage (you could probably run them over and only get scratches), and are suited for infants and toddlers to generally handle safely.
The vast majority of lego related injuries included some variation of the following:
Cutting fingers by trying to disassemble Lego
Stepping on Lego (of course)
Quick movement of the corner of a piece against the skin, scratching or cutting the skin
Swallowing and/or choking on pieces (mostly young children, very young)
Getting pieces stuck in orifices such as the ears or nose
Basically, there is nothing majorly life threatening. I have not read or heard of any accounts of electrically operated Lego hurting people either (i.e. 9v system, PowerFunctions etc). If you would like to read personal accounts of harm from Lego, I would suggest taking a peek at this link.
Long story short, unless your child is prone to do things that are dangerous with small items, they are quite unlikely to be harmed, apart from a small scratch every once in a while. Also, all Lego products are accompanied by an age rating (not the one on the front cover) but near the fine print on boxes and instructions. There are adequate warnings and disclaimers, but of course common sense should prevail. If you know your child may get hurt, don't let that opportunity arise.
I hope that helped and answered your question. Happy building!
At about 9 years old I fell out of bed onto a constructed set. Managed to get into my parents bed and fall asleep. In the morning the pillow was soaked with blood and I got the day off school. As far as I am aware there were no lasting side effects, but ay bleeding to the head is not considered healthy.
