Flammability of Upholstered Furniture, Mattresses and Bedding Sold in the United States: Regulatory Compliance

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About the Course

This two-day course provides a basic understanding of mandatory and voluntary flammability performance and quality control test standards for upholstered furniture, mattresses, mattress/box spring sets, and bedding (bed clothing) offered for sale in the United States. Both open flame and smoldering tests will be covered.

Learn About

• Latest changes to the regulation
• How to properly conduct the tests
• How to assess test results to determine if your product is in compliance with the regulations
• About liability issues and legal requirements
• What products put your company at risk
• What you can do to avoid product recalls and costly penalties

Who Should Attend

• Upholstered furniture, mattresses, and bedding manufacturers
• Raw material and component suppliers providing fibers, cellular foams, fabrics and fastening materials (threads, tape edges, etc.) to the furniture and bedding industry
• Product designers, production/quality control managers, testing and record keeping personnel involved in the manufacture of furniture and bedding products
• Importers, distributors and sales representatives of furniture and bedding products
• Retailers of furniture and bedding products to consumers
• Flammability testing laboratory personnel (managers, engineers and chemists and lab technicians)
• Attorneys and insurance risk managers with furniture and bedding clients
• Interested consumer association and NGO representatives

Course Outline

• History of the Regulation
• Current Status of CPSC Regulations
• Enforcement Overview
• Terminology, Acronyms and Definitions
• Basic Pertinent Fire Science Principles
• Upholstered Furniture Test Standards
  • California Technical Bulletin 116
  • California Technical Bulletin 117
  • California Technical Bulletin 133
  • Proposed Federal Upholstered Furniture Flammability Standard
  • Upholstered Furniture Action Council (U.F.A.C.) Standards
  • Boston Fire Code B.F.D. IX-10
  • Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Assn. (B.I.F.M.A.) Standards
• Mattress/Box Spring Test Standards
  • CPSC 16 C.F.R. 1632 (Calif. Tech. Bulletin 106)
  • CPSC 16 C.F.R. 1633 (Calif. Tech. Bulletin 603)
  • California Technical Bulletin 121
  • California Technical Bulletin 129
  • Boston Fire Code B.F.D. IX-11
• Bedding/Bedclothing Test Standards
  • 16 C.F.R. 1634 Proposed Federal Standard
• Other Standards (cigarette ignition propensity, barrier performance, cotton smoldering, etc.)
• Voluntary Test Standards (ASTM, ANSI, UL, NFPA)
• Product and Component Labeling
• Recordkeeping Requirements
• Enforcement/Liability Issues
• Manufacturing Best Practices/Quality Control

Fee Includes

• Referenced ASTM standards
• Course notes
• Certificate of Attendence with 1.4 Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

About the Instructor

Ellen Roaldi is a Senior Technical Consulting Specialist in the Softlines area and has been with Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services for 23 years. In her current position, Ellen is responsible for providing support globally for client initiatives as well as internal operations. This includes training clients and staff in testing theory and methodology, consulting, auditing and advising on technical information, reviewing and authoring procedural/client manuals, interpreting test results, and serving on several industry committees.

Prior to this position, Ellen provided program management services for key clients as well as assisting the regulatory team with interpretations of federal laws. Ellen also provided technical support in the textile laboratory while working previously in operations. Before joining Bureau Veritas, Ellen worked as a Quality Engineer for Talon/Textron, and as a Systems/Quality Engineer at Carborundum.

Ellen holds a Bachelor of Science in Textiles from Philadelphia University (formerly known as the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science). She is a member of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), ASTM International, the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC), and the International Bedding and Law Officials (ABFLO). Ellen also serves on the Industry Advisory Board for the Textile Program at the State University College at Buffalo.

Professional Engineers

If your state has a continuing education requirement for license renewal, ASTM training courses should count towards your Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) Professional Development Hour (PDH) requirement.

About ASTM and Sponsoring Committee

Organized in 1898, ASTM is one of the world's largest voluntary standards development organizations. ASTM standards have grown to be among the most widely used and accepted global documents. The 82-volume Annual Book of ASTM Standards (available in print and online) contains 12,000 standards written by 34,000 members on our 140 technical committees. Committees D13 and E05 developed some of the standards used in this course.