Five Ways To Reduce Fire Risk in Home Furnishings

Although fire safety may not be the first consideration when consumers buy new home furnishings, manufacturers are realizing that it may be a deciding factor if design, color, style and price are similar. What’s more, of course, it can make the difference between life and death.

Naturally, reputable home furnishing manufacturers use a range of flame retardant materials and components, plus fire safety tests, as part of their product development process. In fact, there are five key ways to reduce fire risks:

1) Manufacturing Safer Furniture – Flame retardant materials used in seats, upholstery, sofas and mattresses significantly reduce the possibility of ignition. In the event of ignition, they also limit the spread of any flames. For example, the use of flame retardant materials on a sofa would ensure that, even if a person dropped a cigarette butt into the upholstery, it would not ignite and the emission of any toxic gases would be minimal.

To reduce the potential for harm, the European Union and United States have implemented flame retardant regulations on the furniture industry. Manufacturers and retailers must ensure their products are tested against standards including:
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 – in the UK
• EN 1021/EN 597 – in Europe
• 16CFR 1633 – in the United States, supplemented by TB117 in California

2) Building Safer Structures – The use of fire retardant materials in constructing a building can limit the spread of a fire, and offer the benefits of less smoke and reduced releases of toxic gases – both of which enable the occupants of a building more time to escape/await rescue in safety. Building materials should have good mechanical, environmental and flame retardant capabilities. And those materials claiming flame retardancy, such as fireproof plasterboard, floor coverings, carpets and curtains, must be tested against the appropriate international standards.

3) Using Fire Doors – Fire doors save lives. The doors and their hardware (known as “door sets”) are designed to contain flames and smoke, allowing people time to escape or await rescue in safety. Testing will verify a door set’s fire resistance and qualify its rating. Regulations are in place across the USA and European Union, where standards have recently been harmonized with the publication of EN 16034 and the introduction in September 2016 of a common CE marking procedure.

4) Using Fire Retardant Coatings – These slow and limit the spread of fire. Fire retardant coatings are commonly applied to combustible substrate surfaces. They can reduce the surface flammability of a coated material, limit fires, slow the spread of flames, and improve the fire endurance of the protected materials.

5) Testing & Evaluation Services – Manufacturers can bring in external fire safety experts to verify their materials and finished products against the international standards.

Three minutes – that’s all it takes for a domestic house fire to go from 0 to 1,110 degrees Celsius. The spread of fire is rapid, the temperature increase faster, and the devastation wrought unimaginable. Annually, it is estimated that there are some 700-800 million fire incidents globally, of which some 80% are domestic. Though global statistics are not available, in Europe, figures suggest that 12 people die every day and more than 120 are injured by fire. Don’t let your end-consumers fall victim by your error or omission.

SGS Fire Safety Testing Services
SGS has a global network of consumer product testing laboratories, many with expertise in fire safety testing and evaluation services.

SGS covers six product categories:
• Building materials and construction elements
• Transportation
• Wires and cables
• Electrical and electronic products
• Upholstered furniture
• Fabrics and textiles

For further information, please contact:

Winson Wang
Consumer and Retail, Fire Technology Services
China/Hong Kong Regional Manager
SGS Anji
t: +86 0572 5018828
e: cts.media@sgs.com

About SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 85,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,800 offices and laboratories around the world.

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This release was published on openPR.