Flammability Updates & News

A New Year; Preparing for a New World in Compliance;
What’s On the Horizon for Retailers and Manufacturers;
and New Leadership at the Cal Bureau

Get Ready, Get Set…

This, 2003, is the year to prepare for the future.

The slope leading uphill to decision-making on big changes is often gradual; but once the decision is made, you’re suddenly going downhill, on a steeper slope. Time flashes by…

The new federal standard will be all but decided by 2004—and though the exact enactment date is not yet clear, a draft standard of the testing procedure may be available soon.

Also, there are changes in TB 117, the California component standard, that will be in the rulemaking stage in late 2003; AND the new, rigorous, California open-flame composite standard, now referred to as Assembly Bill 603 (AB 603 for convenience) will definitely become mandatory in January of 2004. (California will have two standards? Yes—AB 603 for mattresses, and TB 117 for convertible furniture; we futon guys fit both.)

What’s more — NIST research indicates that bedclothes — sheets, pillows, comforters — contribute significantly to bed-related fires. Adding more fuel to that argument, National Association of State Fire Marshals President Don Bliss stated, in his address at the ISPA Industry Conference in October, that NASFM is making a special priority of pushing for tough regulations on flammable comforters, citing California Bureau data indicating that “A comforter on a cement floor may contain enough fuel to bring a room to flashover….”

He then said that NASFM will re-submit their petition at the federal level (delays earlier this year necessitated the re-submission), asking that a California-proposed bed-clothing standard (see this column, last issue) would be added to the CPSC's new mattress standard.

To further move the legislative process along, Bliss said that NASFM will introduce a bill into Congress, entitled the “American Home Fire Safety Act,” which will include standards for bed clothing, mattresses, upholstered furniture, candles and cigarettes. If confirmed by Congress, this would require the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to adopt specific standards on these items. (Any flammability laws enacted before legalization of this act would tend to supersede equivalent portions of the AHFSA.)

Hence, it is extremely likely that bedclothes will be included at both state and federal levels of flammability legislation.

Inventory is going to cost more in the coming years. Manufacturers will have to start looking into using barrier fabrics, and more sophisticated approaches to flame-retardancy than in the past.

You might well ask, “Is this the best way to go during a slow economy?” It’s hard to say: on one hand, there is the immediate bottom line. On the other hand, even when consumers are looking for the biggest bang for their buck, they want to feel safe in bed, and not lose everything they own to a fire.

This could be good.

The Sunny Side

Well, all this has been in the works for years, really. And—we as an industry have cooperated all along the way. In fact, that’s the silver lining. We have been able to contribute valuable insight to the process of rulemaking. Without that, we could very possibly be facing an untenable situation.

Now, instead of spending big bucks fighting an inevitable process, and showing extremely bad faith to our consumers (yes, ladies and gentlemen, via news programs like “60 Minutes,” the skinny on industry attitudes toward safety legislation does get out to the public), AND THEN having to turn around and figure out how to retool to meet the new standard, we have spent our money helping to inform the new standard, and have detailed knowledge on what we will need to do—before we have to do it.

Result: a fairer standard than would have otherwise resulted, time to get ready, and—certainly not the least--the good graces of our customers and government agencies.

Regarding industry cooperation in developing new flammability standards, NASFM President Bliss also said the following in his remarks at the ISPA conference in October:

“You have been fair and honest… you studied the fire incident data to understand the nature of fires involving your… analysis of the data will result in very tough standards that reflect the real world… you have concerns about the cost of compliance. But you have stimulated innovation among your material suppliers, and are busy figuring out how to improve safety in an efficient way… we will stand up for you...”

Retailers and Manufacturers: Keep on Top of Developments

Compliance expert Gordon Damant stated in the September, 2002 issue of BedTimes magazine that “Every bedding manufacturer, supplier and retailer must keep up to date with the latest developments on this critically important fire-safety issue...”

It’s true. We are at a crucial juncture

Retailers should keep in touch with manufacturers to gauge the future of their inventory — the more on top of the situation your inventory sources are, the less “surprised” you are going to be. Ask them about changes in material, components and construction of the products, with an eye to the future.

Also, everyone involved — from retailers to manufacturers to materials suppliers — can keep up to speed by monitoring the web sites of the following:

US CPSC - www.cpsc.gov phone (301) 504-0608 ext. 1370

The California Bureau of Home Furnishings www.dca.ca.gov/bhfti, phone (916) 574-2041

ISPA’s Sleep Products Safety Council www.SafeSleep.org, phone (703) 683-8371

Remember This When Seeking — or Giving — Compliance Guarantees

Retailers: Now is the time to start reminding your inventory suppliers to update their compliance guarantees when these laws come into effect. The makeup of some products may change substantially; and certainly, the laws pertinent to the guarantee will have changed.

Remember that when getting a compliance guarantee from manufacturers, when these laws have come into effect the guarantee will have to assure that the products they are providing conform to the new laws. We’ll repeat this over the next year; but for you, whose inventory is at stake, this is crucial.

Also, it’s a good bet that other types of products mentioned in this article will also come into eligibility for manufacturer guarantees of compliance.

Just one more thing: do your manufacturer a favor, and don’t demand compliance to the new laws before they come into effect. (Nothing like asking someone to do the impossible.) Not many retailers would do such a thing; but “there is always one or two in every crowd….”

Manufacturers: please be aware that not every government agency accepts bench-scale testing of components. Also, as Gordon Damant underscores in the above-mentioned BedTimes article, some components pass component tests, yet do not do well in composite tests—and vice versa.

Therefore, before you rely too heavily on your component supplier’s guarantees of flame resistance, be sure that the component performs as it should in both component-test and composite-test situations.

Now is the time to start getting your ducks in a row.

Consumer Advocate Lynn Morris Named Chief at Cal Bureau Announced on December 5, 2002: California Governor Gray Davis has appointed Lynn Morris as Chief of the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation (BHFTI). Morris will oversee the policy and daily management of the Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation.

A longtime consumer advocate and a Department of Consumer Affairs veteran, Morris will be leaving the position of Deputy Director, Board Relations, which she has held since 1999. Since 1982, she has served as a public board member or executive officer for several Department boards.

She has also been a consumer representative on U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committees, as well as serving as a member and an executive officer of the California State Consumer Advisory Council. She has also worked with the California State Assembly Office of Research, and with various private-sector associations, in healthcare, and as a co-owner and operator of a small business.

She takes up her very important position, as head of the most influential state compliance agency in the nation, at a crucial time for our industry. We wish her all success; and look forward to continuing our industry’s proactive relationship with BHFTI.

FL