Alfred J. Verrecchia, chief executive and president of Hasbro Inc., said this week that the Pawtucket toy maker won’t get tripped up by the problems that have prompted the recent recalls of hundreds of thousands of toys, including more than a half-million this week.

“We’ve escaped any of the lead-paint recalls,” he told a group of business school deans from around the Northeast who gathered Thursday in Providence for a two-day conference at the Providence Biltmore hotel.

However, others in the industry haven’t been as fortunate. RCA Corp., which began the wave of lead scares with a June recall of 1.5 million trains, Wednesday pulled back 200,000 Thomas and Friends Wooden Railway Toys.

Seven separate lead-paint recalls of Chinese-made toys included hundreds of thousands of products made exclusively for two retailers — Target Corp. and Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts. Lead paint also caused problems for playthings and jewelry manufactured abroad by two companies that sell to a wide variety of stores.

Target warned about excessive lead in paint on about 350,000 of its brightly colored Happy Giddy Gardening Tools and Children’s Sunny Patch Chairs.

Jo-Ann Stores Inc. recalled 16,000 toy rakes because lead in the paint on the rake handles violates federal lead standards.

Toymaker Guidecraft Inc. announced the recall of 10,000 Floor Puppet Theaters because surface paints on the 52-inch toy stage also contain excessive lead.

RC2 recalled five train toys as well as 800 toys from its “Knights of the Sword” series, because three models of action figure showed higher-than-allowed lead content.

Like many toymakers, Hasbro contracts with Chinese manufacturers to produce the bulk of its products. (It also has manufacturing plants in East Longmeadow, Mass., and in Ireland.)

But the company’s “stringent” quality-control procedures will keep it from falling victim to the problems that have befallen other companies, Verrecchia said.

“Lots of people are talking about high standards,” he said. “High standards are good, but if you don’t have a process in place to make sure they’re being adhered to, it doesn’t mean anything.”

Just as important, he said, Hasbro’s managers need to keep an eye on the holiday season, during which consumers will make the bulk of their annual toy purchases.

“We need to stay focused on what our goals are and not be distracted by what’s happening in the marketplace,” Verrecchia said. “That’s my job.”

To restore consumer confidence and ensure safety, retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Toys R Us Inc., as well as a slew of toy makers, are frantically retesting toys. In many cases, toys are being pulled off the shelves to be sent to independent laboratories. But the safety experts say parents can take control, too, by examining the toys they buy and keeping informed of all the product recalls.

Taking control doesn’t mean boycotting toys from China, they say. With more than 80 percent of toys sold in the United States made in China, “you are not going to have a lot of choice,” says Jack Gillis, director of public affairs for the Consumer Federation of America.

Furthermore, there’s no assurance that toys made in this country or Europe don’t have problems either, such as splinters or sharp edges or broken parts. The majority of the millions of toys recalled by Mattel Inc. in three high-profile actions this summer were due to design flaws, which can be blamed on the company itself.

Stephanie Oppenheim, publisher of the independent annual guide Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, said that of the hundreds of holiday toys she recently tested, 15 percent had some problems, such as long cords that pose a strangling hazard. That’s up dramatically from a year ago.

That’s why parents need to stay informed and be their child’s safety advocate, she said.

The European Union said Thursday that it might tighten rules for permitting the sale of some toys to ease concerns prompted by the recalls.

The European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, said it would propose that more toys undergo independent certification. Under current rules, toy manufacturers can certify the safety of goods, and independent testing is voluntary.

“Toys are not just any product,” EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. “Independent certification is going to be necessary.”

In the United States, no injuries have been reported in connection with any of the products recalled Wednesday, federal officials said.

“After the first set of recalls, retailers and manufacturers said they would take a very systematic inventory to determine whether any of their products were in violation of the lead-paint standard,” said Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. “These recalls are a result of that inventory.”

Vallese said consumers should expect more bad news about lead and toys: “There is the anticipation that there will be more lead recalls in the future.”

So far this year, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has recalled more than 11 million toys, baby bibs and play jewelry because of excessive lead.

The commission recommends that parents check out manufacturers’ and retailers’ Web sites for information about the latest recalls and other product-safety information. Mattel’s site links to www.mattel.com/safety. And Toys R Us unveiled a new safety site called www.Toysrus.com/Safety.

EToys, the online toy seller, just launched a site called www.etoys.com/safety. And the American Specialty Toy Retail Association has www.astratoy.org., which lists toys recommended by small toy sellers.

Some retailers are helping customers find the product’s origin. FAO Schwartz has put up signs throughout its stores to designate the country of origin; the retailer’s Web site, www.FAO.com, allows consumers to shop for toys by country of origin.

With reports from Journal Staff Writer Paul Grimaldi