Flammability Guidance for Contract Seating: Fire Safety of Office Work Chairs in Domestic Environments

At a glance:

Guidance for the contract seating industry to address the fire safety of contract seating used in home environments. Developed in collaboration with Trading Standards, this guidance covers four ‘scenarios’ and clarifies whether the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (FFFSR) would fully apply, alongside the role of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 in the case of:

• Legacy chairs (those marketed and supplied for contract use prior to pandemic/mass migration to home working)
• Chairs marketed as contract use, but could have been taken home
• Chairs knowingly to be sold for use in a domestic environment
• Mesh only chairs or mesh parts of chairs (e.g. mesh backrests)

Highlights:

In addition to a focus on the four scenarios, further sections include:

• Summary guidelines for compliance
• What needs to be covered under the General Product Safety Regulations, including a definition of a ‘safe product’
• Labelling for permanent labels and display labels for chairs sold for domestic use
• Risk Assessment and accompanying notes
• Ignition source and probability contact with office task chair
• Flammability performance of mesh