Flammability Updates & News

Retailers: What Happens When the Government Tests Your Inventory

A Retailer’s Prediction

I was recently called by a futon retailer (who wishes to remain anonymous). He drew my attention to an article he saw on the internet. The article discussed cigarette legislation in several states, and a move by a major cigarette company, to promote the manufacture of self-extinguishing cigarettes.

The retailer wondered if this activity would resolve the mattress flammability issue, especially insofar as what it entails for retailers visited by compliance agents—having inventory pulled for government testing.

His point was that cigarettes, matches and lighters are major sources of ignition, and if cigarettes actually went out before their smoldering could cause a bed fire, then (maybe) flammability law would become obsolete.

I told him it wasn’t likely.

Speed-Bump: Cigarettes and Compliance Law

As we know, industries move just as slowly as legislatures do. And—there is more than cigarette ignition powering the upcoming federal law changes. Cigarettes are only part of the equation. The mattress itself is viewed as fuel for the fire, regardless of what actually starts the fire.

Yet the article, "Groups Want Cigarette Fire Standard," was interesting. Posted on April 14 of this year by the Associated Press, and authored by reporter Nancy Zuckerbrod, I logged onto it via my Excite News page.

Zuckerbrod makes the statement that "Philip Morris is the only U.S. company now making self-extinguishing cigarettes. But a key reason for the company's new support of a federal requirement has to do with a New York law saying only self-extinguishing cigarettes may be sold in that state starting next year."

She goes on to say that Massachusetts, New Jersey, Minnesota and Rhode Island are also looking at self-extinguishing cigarette legislation, and that "Legislation scheduled to be introduced Thursday by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., would require tobacco companies to produce only ‘fire safe’ cigarettes that would have to meet guidelines established by the Consumer Products Safety Commission."

This all sounds promising, all right, but again, the wheels grind slow. Zuckerbrod herself points out that firefighter associations and safety groups have tried to force cigarette companies to make fire-safe cigarettes for years, but the tobacco industry has resisted because fast-burning cigarettes spur smokers to buy more.

Philip Morris’s gambit is already evident in its Merit brand. Merits have rings of micro-thin paper bonded at intervals to the regular cigarette paper. These rings are supposed to act as "speed bumps" to slow down the cigarettes’ smolder rate.

But wait! It’s not the rate of smolder that concerns us: it’s that they smolder at all. The danger is from cigarettes that smolder after being dropped on fabric—usually by a smoker who has nodded asleep—starting a fire.

Though Philip Morris reports that Merits do go out eventually, any prolonged smolder is a danger. Merits are only a beginning.

Drawing on my own experience in discussions with government and industry groups, I would say that changes in cigarette manufacture will probably be factored into legislative research, but will not significantly deflect the path the authorities and cooperative mattress and futon industry groups are taking toward a new national flame standard.

In other words, guys, compliance is going to be a constant for years to come.

What Happens When The Government Comes to Your Store

What does this all mean to retailers?

In his prognostications on the possible future, our retailer was no doubt contemplating the ins and outs of visits by government compliance agents. No matter how good the inventory, any non-customer coming in out of the blue, and asking the "feel the material" raises suspicions and fears for most retailers.

While not that many of us have experienced a compliance agent visit, it still lingers in the minds of some retailers as yet another of the many unknowns of doing business in an increasingly complicated world. The unpredictable always carries a certain jeopardy with it.

The bottom line is that most compliance agents are people simply doing their job. Most of them are fairly courteous, but please remember that they have authority in these matters. If you are cooperative, you will make the visit much more positive.

What happens is that one fine day, one or two government gentlemen (or ladies) enter your store, and identify themselves (yes, you should ask for ID, and they have to produce it). They will ask you for several mattresses for testing purposes.

You do have to give them the mattresses once they have identified themselves as true government agents—either as U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission inspectors, or in California, as agents of the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation.

Most often the government—federal or state—will reimburse you for these items. (But in the rare extreme cases—where the product was obviously made without care, with no attempt to comply with flame legislation, they may not.)

The agents take the product to a government lab for testing against all applicable flammability laws. If your product passes, that’s fine—you’ll get reimbursed and can sleep soundly, knowing that your faith in your manufacturer is rewarded, and that your customers are sleeping on reliable, flame-resistant mattresses.

What If Your Inventory Doesn’t Pass the Test?

If your mattresses are found to be noncompliant, you will be notified. There are several options, depending on the degree of noncompliance.

You may be told to apply a tag, saying the products are not compliant. Or, you may be directed to withhold the product from sale—in which case, you have basically lost your inventory—and your manufacturer should be a good sport and reclaim the deficient mattresses, and replace them for you.

Of course, that depends on your relationship with your manufacturer: we’ll talk more about this, below.

Then again, if your manufacturer’s goods in a number of stores have failed testing, the government will demand a list of their customers from them. If that’s the case, then, even without testing YOUR inventory, you will simply be given a notice that you must withhold all goods made by that manufacturer from sale. Again, the manufacturer should make good on this—yet again it depends on how you set up your relationship with your manufacturer.

When you purchased your inventory, did you get a compliance guarantee form from your manufacturer? (You can get the form for your manufacturer to fill out, from the US CPSC, or the Sleep Products Safety Council—see the contact information below.)

Did you get any written assurance of quality?

These things are important. While many manufacturers are willing to make good in situations such as those outlined above, not all of them do. Be sure who you are doing business with.

Another point: compliance guarantee forms are good, but you should also ask your manufacturer what steps they take to assure compliance in their products. They should do testing, or have testing done by a lab, to all applicable standards—and they should keep records on the testing for each prototype of every mattress line they sell you. Passing the test, and keeping records on the results, are the two main requirements for mattress manufacturers. Otherwise, they are noncompliant.

Remember, news of bad product gets around, and the saying is that one customer with negative word-of-mouth is worth seven customers lost.

So, even though most of us do our best to further the prestige and worth of our product, take the time to be sure about your inventory.

FL

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Need More Info? Contact These Sources:

The Sleep Products Safety Council
510 Wythe St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
Phone 703-683-8371
www.sleepproducts.org

U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission
c/o Marilyn Borsari
Flammability Compliance Officer
4330 East West Hwy
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone 301-504-0608 ext. 1370;

The California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation
3485 Orangegrove Ave.
North Highlands, CA 95660-5528
Phone 916-574-2041
www.dca.ca.gov/bhfti