Fire Legislation saves thousands of lives

25 August 2008

This year sees the 20th anniversary of fire safety laws which have saved thousands of lives by making sure that furniture in the home is safer.

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988 were enacted by Parliament following an intense lobbying campaign by Rt Hon Ian McCartney MP and the Greater Manchester Fire Authority, and in particular former Assistant County Fire Officer Bob Graham. Bob Graham will be speaking at the Fire & Rescue Conference 2008 to be held in Liverpool during 26th - 28th August.

One of the main catalysts for campaigning for this legislation was the tragic fire at Woolworths in Piccadilly, Manchester in May 1979 which claimed the lives of 10 people. Investigations into the fire at the time highlighted the fire hazards of upholstered furniture. Over the following years, fire deaths in the home continued to increase, with multiple fatalities becoming a more frequent feature in domestic fires due to the phenomenon of 'flashover' (the point at which all the contents of the room ignite spontaneously, making escape or rescues extremely unlikely). Under certain conditions this can occur as early as three minutes after the fire starts.

Ian McCartney MP; Greater Manchester Fire Authority and Bob Graham continued to lobby and campaign for improvements to furnishing standards and successfully influenced government to bring about improved fire safety legislation for furnishings. The successful campaign led to the new regulations being enacted in 1988 and it is conservatively estimated that over 3500 lives have been saved in the UK in the twenty years since the regulations were introduced*.

County Fire Officer, Barry Dixon said: “ Earlier this year Wigan MP, Ian McCartney received the ‘Furniture Parliamentarian for the Year’ award in recognition of the 20th anniversary of his work with Bob Graham, working alongside colleagues at the time in Greater Manchester Fire Service and other parties in promoting the use of flame retardant foam in domestic furniture. I have no doubt that  the impact of this legislation  today is to directly reduce the very real risk to anyone involved in a domestic fire, and in some instances will have made enough difference to avoid  a tragedy”.

*University of Surrey, Polymer Research Centre Report 1995

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The Media Liaison Officer
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters
146 Bolton Road
Swinton
Manchester
M27 8US

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