Environmental Fire Safety Law - Term Paper Example

Environmental Fire Safety Law Irrespective of the country of operation, it is generally held that environment-related directives affect the furniture industry directly. There might, however, be only slight variations between the directives applicable on a large furniture manufacturer and a self-employed restorer as is the case here. These directives are by and large related to waste management, emissions, and chemical products used in the trade. Since spray painting, varnishing, lacquering and upholstery would be the processes conducted at the unit, it would mean widespread use of coating materials by the restorer. Wood furniture restorers and manufacturers put together, use solvents in coatings and paints more than any other industry. These solvents create environmental health hazards as they volatilize to the air without being treated (Dambek, et al, 1992). The volatile substances from these solvents are a health hazard and require mandatory equipment, which is technically qualified, in order to enable the unit eliminate the exposure to risk (Heltzer, 1995). The regulations direct the furniture manufacturers to conduct risk assessments of all equipments at the facility and make attempts to eliminate risks at source. Provisions must also be made to contain them by way of physical measures. In all EU nations, prevention measures are implemented on the basis of a hierarchy as given in the European Framework Directives. The hierarchy, based on the substitution/ elimination concept, includes reduction by collective protection, technical means, and personal protection. Most notable risks to be looked into by the furniture restorer and actions to be taken thereby either through mechanical or physical means pertain to coatings and solvents, wood dust, emergency brakes and stops for the machinery being used, wood dust, and limited cutter protection. In EU-countries IPPC Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention Control is the most relevant legislation pertaining to the furniture sector. This legislation explains the permit conditions which are given on the basis of Best Available Techniques or BAT. In order to explain these conditions in a comprehensive manner IPPC adopted a reference document in August 2007 titled Surface Treatment using Organic Solvents (European Commission, n.d.) This reference document reflects on legislation Article 16(2) of Council Directive 96/61/EC (IPPC Directive). Chapter 21 of the reference explains BAT as applicable on the European level, which includes mention of Article 2(11) defining best available technique. Primarily Bat recommends minimisation of emission levels to air, soil, and water. It lays down rules for adhering and implementing to management and environmental systems in furniture units. Environmental footprint with respect to emissions finds a special mention in the article. With respect to solvent management plan, it makes it mandatory on part of units to calculate total or fugitive emissions (European Commission, n.d.). With special reference to coating of furniture and wood, BAT recommends reduction in solvent consumptions, which, in turn, will lead to reduced emissions, reduced energy use, and maximisation of coating efficiency. The best way, as per BAT, to accomplish this is by conducting painting, waste gas treatment techniques and drier applications. The recommended emissions values are equal to or less than 0.25 kg volatile organic compound (VOC) for an input of a kilogram solid. For paints with 65 percent solvent content, VOC emissions shoot up to 60 g/m2. Twenty percent solvent is considered to be medium and 5 percent low with corresponding emissions values of up to 20 and 5 respectively. It is noteworthy that 20 kg of organic solvent-based preservatives are needed for each m3 of wood, which are normally petroleum-based hydrocarbons or white spirit and contain about 90 wt-% VOC. There are also many more European directives in place which the restorer is supposed to know, even though some of them may not impact him directly. EU adopted in 2003 what is known as Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) action plan, which is a set of measures in countries following EU directives on furniture industry and pertains to illegal logging. As part of this plan licensing is required to import wooden products. An important EU regulation on wood treatment says that furniture or related products treated with certain active substances, even though the furniture maker might have done so in an approved manner, must not be placed in the market if the active substances used have deleterious effects on human health and harmful impact on environment. Such issues come under Directive 79/117/EEC (and amendments)( European Commission Green Public Procurement (GPP) Training Toolkit, n.d.). Several pieces of legislation are relevant to the chemicals used in furniture manufacturer and restoration. Chemical not enlisted as dangerous can be found freely available in markets and no specific rules apply to the same. For chemical products which fall under dangerous chemicals list, EU's two directives are applicable. One which is applicable for dangerous substances is Directive 67/548/EEC, and another which is applicable on dangerous preparations is Directive 1999/45/EC. Both these directives cover classification, labelling, and preparations of these chemicals; and if anything that is not covered under these two directives, are covered by Directive 76/769/EEC and its amendments, also known as Limitations Directive. Directive 76/769/EEC. was replaced by new European Chemicals regulation in June 2009. Another relevant directive for the furniture sector is the VOC Solvents Emissions Directive on the limitation of emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations. Activities such as surface cleaning, coating of wood surfaces, adhesive coating, use of varnishes, wood lamination etc are covered by the VOC Directive. That apart since furniture units generate waste as a result of several processes done on wood (during restoration like making of panels and handling of paints etc), they are required to comply with Directive 2008/98/EC on Waste, which lays down guidelines protecting human health and environment due to the impact of this waste generation. The idea is to reduce the resource use, increase the efficiency of such use, and thus reduce the adverse impact of the waste. In context of volatile organic compound emissions, there is not any standard regulation specifically meant for furniture. But there are two directives which deal with industrial emissions. It is Directive 1999/13/EC, the amendment of which is Directive 2004/42/EC. The directives are primarily based on use of solvents in the furniture industry meant for coatings. The directives set rules for VOC emission limits. On the other hand, UK enacted legislation from a worrying statistics on home-based fire-related fatalities from early 1960s to late 1980s. The deaths per year rose from 400 in 1960 to 700 at the end of 60s decade with further surge in 1970s. The figure stood at 731 somewhere in 1980s. The result of this statistics was that in 1988 UK Government introduced Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations. This was recently amended in 1993 and before that in 1989. This law ensures that furniture composites and upholstery components used in furniture meet the desired ignition specification. The regulation is chiefly composed of 6 elements and these are: material filled in furniture should meet specified ignition levels, cigarette resistant upholstery components must be used, match resistant covers must be used, very item of the furniture must have a permanent label, new item on sale must have a display label fitted in, and a five-year record must be maintained by domestic upholstered furniture's first supplier (FIRA International Ltd., 2009). The furniture restorer comes under the purview of these regulations as these apply to every person involved in the supply chain of procurement and use in the furniture business. Specific to the restorer are sections of the regulation that cover re-covering and re-upholstery activities. Not only that the regulations also apply to people in the furniture trade who hire out furniture, or use it for either domestic or commercial purposes in homes, or hotels. UK has a Consumer Protection Act of 1987 of which these regulations are the Statutory Instrument. The Act pertains to domestic upholstered furniture's fire safety. The safety has to be ensured by persons involved in the supply chain that the items for use are of satisfactory quality and safe to be used by the consumers in either homes or commercial establishments. The terms as "satisfactory quality', 'fit for use', and 'safe' are defined by the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR). Since the restorer would need to use upholstery during the course of restoring third party furniture, he would be responsible for whatever material he uses in the act. Everything that he uses has to comply with Consumer Protection Act 1987, and specifically with GPSR and Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. Defaulting on any guideline will leave the restorer with little defence under the Act for product liability. No-compliance can result in criminal prosecution, heavy fines, and civil claims as it is considered as a criminal act if the restorer supplies any item to the customers which are not safe. Pleading ignorance about the relevant law or GPSR would, according to the Act, not be taken as a line of defence. However, if investigators are considered that all precautionary steps were taken by the restorer as part of due diligence with an intention of minimising the risk, such scenarios could be favourably looked at by the court. In gathering such evidence local enforcement officers are asked to provide support and advice. This concept, called Primary Authority Principle, is promoted by Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS). It is noteworthy that the local enforcement officers are empowered to enforce the regulations, and they can bring a prosecution should they find any item being used in the work that does not comply with the relevant law. Products that the law covers have been divided into six groups, ranging from A to F. These include upholstered seating (like ottomans, settees, chairs, padded stools, foot stools, floor cushions, sofa beds, nursery furniture, domestic upholstered furniture, second hand furniture, and footboards, headboards, and bed side rails. Upholstery used in cane furniture also falls under this range, and so do divans, mattresses, mattress pads, and bed bases. Filling material of seat pads and scatter cushions, furniture covers, which include materials like leather, textiles, and coated textiles; stretch and loose furniture covers, and also covers for parts that are not visible and more importantly non-foam and foam filling material fall in the D to F range of the group covered by the regulations. For the restorer it is of importance to know that the regulations pertaining to re-upholstery applies to furniture that dates back even to 1950. He cannot use just anything in that furniture on the pretext of retaining its antiquity. Every material used to re-constitute the furniture must conform to the regulations of the Act. In case of such furniture being restored it is of utmost importance for the restorer to use material that, besides other parameters, meets the ignition tests as stipulated by the regulations. The furniture restorer has an additional employee, and that makes him responsible for his health and safety. For employers, of big or small organisations, safety and health issues are of major concern. It is this concern that European Social Dialogue Committee Furniture took this up as a special subject to promote in 2007. The idea was to promote best practices in the industry to prevent workplace accidents. European Union has made tremendous advancement in its social policy and workplace health and safety represents one of its important fields today. The action that EU takes in these concerns has a sound legal foundation EU Treaty's Article 137. The best part of EU legislation in this regard is that it is so complete that it covers in minimum possible regulations maximum number of risks. Furthermore, European nations have gone a step a step ahead of mere legislation and broadened its sphere of work in as far as workplace safety and health are concerned. It cooperates with European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and European Agency for Health and Safety at Work, in collecting information and sharing ideas that could help promote healthy workplace environments with special emphasis on medium- and small-sized organizations (European Commission, n.d.). In UK, workplace health and safety is regulated by the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992. References P.J. Dambek, et al, (1992). A Guide to Pollution Prevention for Wood Furniture Finishing, Capstone Project, Tufts University J. Heltzer, (1995). “Wood Furniture Finishing,” Industrial Pollution Prevention Handbook, edited by H.M. Freeman, McGraw Hill European Commission, (n.d.). Furniture: Environmental aspects of the furniture sector. Available http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/furniture/environment/index_en.htm. Accessed April 10, 2012 European Commission Green Public Procurement (GPP) Training Toolkit. (n.d.). Available http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/toolkit_en.htm. Accessed April 11, 2012 FIRA International Ltd. (2009). Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home. A Guide to the UK Regulations. Available http://www.vitafoam.co.uk/Docs/FIRA%20Flammability%20Guide%20%20PDF.pdf. Accessed April 12, 2012 Read More