By Martin Banks - 23rd December 2010
We are calling on EU decision-makers to put a Europe-wide single fire safety standard in place
Robert Graham
A new study says that thousands of lives are put at risk from house fires due to low or non-existent EU furniture safety standards.
Sofas bought in 25 member states reached life-threatening condition in less than seven minutes while "stringent" UK safety standards delayed fire growth for almost 25 minutes, it says.
The report says that 3,000 people are killed and 30,000 injured every year across Europe in house fires, half of which involve furniture.
The study has revealed "shocking" evidence that the lives of European citizens are being put at risk by very low – or non-existent – fire safety standards for upholstered furniture.
The research, carried out by a specialist testing centre in the Netherlands1, involved setting fire to sofas bought in each of the 27 EU member states.
It found that 25 out of the 27 sofas reached life-threatening heat and smoke density less than seven minutes after ignition – some in as little as two minutes.
By contrast, the sofa manufactured to the stringent UK (and Irish) fire safety standard slowed the development of the fire, which did not turn into a life-threatening blaze until more than 21 minutes had elapsed.
The sofa burning tests were organised by an EU-wide campaign, “Are You Sitting Comfortably” 2 (www.rusc.eu).
The campaign website includes a specially developed interactive tool which allows people to watch how fast their country’s sofa went up in flames compared to sofas from other EU member states.
It also includes videos, photos of the tests and practical advice on how to prevent fires in the home.
The ‘Are You Sitting Comfortably’ campaign bought 27 typical household sofas, one from each EU member state.
Each sofa was a two- or three-seater sofa costing less than €400.
They were then transported to the test centre, where fire scientists discovered that 25 out of the 27 sofas, when set alight, reached life-threatening heat and smoke density less than seven minutes after ignition – some in as little as two minutes.
It says "enormous" discrepancies in fire safety standards for upholstered furniture exist across Europe.
In the UK and Ireland, for example, the standard is extremely high. In other EU member states it is far lower, or even non-existent.
Robert Graham, a former UK fire chief and executive director of the Alliance for Consumer Fire Safety in Europe, said: “We are calling on EU decision-makers to put a Europe-wide single fire safety standard in place, the same fire safety standard that already exists in the UK and Ireland. We all deserve to be safe."
Graham added: “Conservative estimates suggest that a common fire safety standard for furniture across Europe, set at the UK level, could save 1,500 lives4 and prevent up to ten times that amount of serious injuries every year.”
The 27 two-or three-seater sofas, each costing less than €400, were set alight under strict conditions and the ensuing ‘burn’ was measured using industry standard criteria, including heat release, maximum temperature and smoke density
