News Article
Fire safety of contract seating in domestic settings - News - The Furniture Industry Research Association - Jan- 2021
Home working has been around for decades but has spiked to unprecedented levels since Covid-19 restrictions earlier this year. The use of furniture originally designed for the office in a domestic environment has exposed interpretation issues surrounding fire resilient fabrics and mesh suspension materials commonly used in office chairs.
There is a recognition in the office furniture industry that the ‘upholstery elements’ of office chairs designed for use in the office or home should have an adequate level of fire and smoulder resilience for safety purposes. There are however questions on how current legislation should be applied to office chairs.
FIRA has set up a cross sector steering group consisting of manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and users with the aim of establishing clear furniture fire safety guidelines that can be applied to office chairs used in the home.
FIRA members can see more on this project, along with output due, below.
