Fancy Dress Fire Safety
Following this report in today's Sun newspaper, we would like to reassure our customers of the measures we take to ensure all of our costumes are the safest on the market.
At R H Smith& Sons, we take safety very seriously and invest heavily to ensure the integrity and safety of all our products.
Our dedicatedin-house team ensure that all of our fancy-dress costumesare manufactured and rigorously tested to comply with the European regulations.
This is particularly important for children’s costumes, which are defined as Toysunder EU regulations as there is an implied hazard due tothe "play factor' involved whilst wearing dress-up. Costumesmust comply with stringent flammability requirements that do not apply, bylaw, to children's clothing with the (exception of some sleepwear).
All of our children’s costumes and accessories are tested to make sure they comply with the EN71 set of standards in conjunction with our nominated safety partner Intertek -a worldwide recognised safety testing bureau.
EN 71 is a Europe-wide standard for toy safety and is in 12 parts. Part 2 specifically deals with the flammability potential of a toy. This of course is paramount for a fancy dress costume. To perform the test, samples of the various materials are set alight under controlled conditions. Depending on the type of material, where it appears on the costume and its surface area, either the flame spread rate orits self-extinguishing properties are measured against the requirements set-outin the standard.
Specifically with regards to children’s fancy dress costumes and capes the official guidance is as follows:
Toy disguise costumes and toys intended to be worn by a child in play. The rate of spread of flame of the test sample shall not exceed 30 mm/or the test sample shall self-extinguish. If the rate of spread of flame is between 10 mm/s and 30 mm/s, the appropriate part(s) of the toy and the packaging shall be permanently marked with the following warning: “Warning.Keep away from fire”
As a responsible supplier, we take the precaution to label all of our children’s costumes with fire warning: "Warning. Keep away from fire" irrespective of the burn rate within the regulatory limit. Furthermore, all Toys that are sold within the European Union are required to bear the CE mark. This is the manufacturer’s declaration that the product meets the European Toy Safety Directive(2009/48/EC), and has undergone a variety of product tests to ensure that it is safe for use.
Other manufacturers may not be as vigilant about safety as we are, or are prepared to invest in safety procedures and testing standards as we do. To make sure you are buying a verifiable safe product, check that you are buying from an authorised re-seller. Prior to purchase check that the packaging contains the appropriate warnings and safety symbols, and the costume is labelled with the CE mark and fire warnings. Do not buy from unrecognisable importers and do not trust counterfeit goods. These will not have had to undergo the processes as listed above.
Blog Post Originally Found At http://trade.smiffys.com/Info/news?showarticle=145#active