Solutions are out there, Kemp says
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 22, 2004
NORTHBROOK, Ill. — NORTHBROOK, Ill. — "If you haven't started to work on flammability, start today."
That's what Dennis Kemp, vice president of operations for Spring Air Northwest in Lacey, Wash., told a roomful of bedding producers at the Shoptalk: Flammability seminar here.
Kemp, also chairman of the Sleep Products Safety Council's Combustibility Committee, offered several tips on how bedding makers can meet California's open-flame mattress flammability law.
He said adding fire-resistant protection to sleep sets will affect their costs, but noted there are "some very affordable products" available today. Producers won't need to purchase new machinery to incorporate FR protection, he said, since existing equipment can handle FR materials.
And while California's new flammability law doesn't require paperwork of bedding producers, it will be helpful for producers to keep records of their ongoing quality assurance efforts, Kemp said.
Bedding executives need to convey their seriousness about the mattress flammability issue to their employees, he said. "If it's important to you," he said, "it will be important to your employees."
Kemp also stressed the importance of keeping an FR barrier in position in the sleep set. "A barrier works great," he said, "but only if you can keep it in place. If fire gets around the barrier, you are toast."
He fielded numerous questions from the audience, making the following points:
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Bedding producers should be manufacturing FR-compliant products "well before" the Jan. 1, 2005, date for enforcement in California. "Look at your calendars," Kemp said. "Work backward. You are precious tight on time. This is not a big deal. You can be very successful at this if you get up and do something about it." Make appointments with suppliers of FR materials, he suggested, to learn more about their offerings.
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Some handles and vents pose a problem. Suppliers need to come up with solutions to those problems.
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Zippers will require additional protection. Perhaps a fire barrier flap could be placed behind the zipper, or the zipper could be placed away from the source of flames in the burn test, Kemp suggested.
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Melting of components does not constitute a failure of the California burn test, which measures the heat release from the sleep set.
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"It appears Kevlar thread is the go-to thread" for FR protection, he said.
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Producers need to offer as much FR protection as possible for the gussets in mattresses.
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He isn't aware of rashes that would result from exposure to FR materials in the plant. "We can't allow that type of material into our industry," Kemp said.
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