Halloween Costumes: The Fire Safety Label Parents Should Look Out For When Buying Outfits For Kids

Parents should look out for an additional safety label on kids’ Halloween costumes, which shows they have undergone further flammability testing.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed today [Wednesday 18 October] that they have introduced two voluntary ‘Codes of Practice’ which exceed the current testing standard.

The consortium felt the need for a more robust flammability test than was currently required under European standards, and worked with UK laboratories to develop one.

The BRC told HuffPost UK the three largest children’s costumes manufacturers in the UK - Christy’s by Design, Rubies UK and Smiffy’s - have signed up to put their fancy dress outfits through these additional tests.

The warning label shown below indicates a costume has undergone the additional safety testing for flammability.

BRC

The additional flammability tests have been endorsed by The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), The National Fire Chiefs Council, Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Children’s Burns Trust.

The tests have a more stringent requirement of a maximum burn rate of 10mm/minute. This is an improvement of 300% compared to the current European standard ‘EN71-2’ of fire safety testing, which requires a maximum burn rate of 30mm/minute for children’s fancy dress costumes - which are classed as “toys” rather than “clothing”.

David Bolton, head of product safety at the BRC explained that, despite the additional flammability testing, parents should still be cautious when their children are near flames.

“All parents know that children should not be allowed to play near fire and that clothing of any sort will burn if exposed long enough to flame or extreme heat,” he told HuffPost UK.

The BRC also explained that this does not mean costumes without this label are not safe for children to wear.

“Those [other costumes] have still been tested under the European standard ‘EN71-2’, certified to be safe,” a spokesperson said.

“Our ‘Code of Practice’ is more robust than this legal standard and therefore costumes tested under it are safer.

“That’s also not to say that costumes that haven’t been tested to our ‘Code of Practice’ wouldn’t meet the standard if they were.”

Speaking about the new ‘Code of Practice’, Bolton added: “We are still recommending that the UK Government and EU authorities revisit the legislation to ensure all products on the market are effectively regulated to reflect the hazards presented by today’s style of costumes, including the fabrics and finishes used.”

Ken Dunn, consultant burns and plastic surgeon and medical trustee at the Children’s Burns Trust said:

“The number of incidents of burns involving clothing, for example a child’s fancy-dress costume, is thankfully relatively low - but when it does happen it is catastrophic.

“We continue to support the work of the Government and the BSI (British Standard Institute) in increasing the flammability standards of children’s clothes in particular and are grateful to the British Retail Consortium for the developments in their Code of Practice.”

Before You Go

Halloween Children's Costumes Tested For Safety

Sainsbury's Terrifying Tuxedo, £12-14(01 of06)

Good Housekeeping (GH): "On one of the samples tested for the Sainsbury's costume, the trip thread at 300mm was severed. The flame spread to that point in a minute and four seconds, which is slow enough for it to still pass the standard. Some of the samples did not burn very much, but both the lining and sleeve samples burned for over 30 seconds, with the sleeve burning for 72 seconds in total."

Retailer says: "Safety is our top priority. We have looked at every detail of each product in our dress-up range and introduced our own, more stringent flammability safety standard – exceeding all legal requirements. Still, it’s very important to remember that all clothing carries a fire risk, so we are doing all we can to encourage customers to celebrate safely. For example, we only sell LED tea lights in our Halloween range, instead of traditional candles.’

"Sainsbury’s also added that through product engineering, it has worked to construct its costumes to slow down the flame spread, with built-in fire breaks and carefully chosen fabrics, embellishments and finishes." (credit:Sainsburys)

Wilko Bloodsucking Vampire, £8(02 of06)

GH says: "Samples taken from the cape of this costume didn’t catch alight for very long and no flaming debris was produced. However, other samples of the costume did result in some flaming residue. The flame didn't sever the 300mm mark, meaning it passes the nightwear standard, however, the samples did burn for 32.3 seconds on average."

Retailer says: "We are a family business and nothing matters to us more than our customers’ safety and that of their young families. Our expert quality team works constantly to ensure that all of our products comply with all relevant legal and regulatory requirements. Additionally, for this year’s Halloween (October 2016), we have independently tested all of our own label Halloween costumes under more rigorous conditions than are currently legally required by testing to the voluntary BRC Code of Practice. We are also cooperating fully with increased Trading Standards testing to ensure compliance with legal requirements. Although we have worked hard to ensure that all of our own label Halloween costumes pass all flammability standards, it is still really important that a constant watch is made on Halloween activities to avoid any close proximity to naked flames. For this reason, we have also introduced LED tea lights which can safely replace naked flames in traditional candle tea lights. We want our customers to have a safe and enjoyable Halloween." (credit:Wilko)

Marks & Spencer Witch Costume, £18-22(03 of06)

GH says: "Once again, the flame did not sever the 300mm trip thread on any of the tested samples, so it passes, but the samples did still burn for an average of 31.5 seconds. One of the samples burned for almost a minute and a half, and the majority of samples produced melted flaming debris in the test."

Retailer says: "Customer safety is our top priority. As with all our dress up items, this product was subjected to independent flammability tests under strict laboratory conditions to ensure it fully complies with the new British Retail Consortium (BRC) Code of Practice on flammability." (credit:Marks Spencer)

Tesco Glow In The Dark Skeleton, £7-10(04 of06)

GH says: "The flame did sever the 300mm trip thread on five of the samples but only reached the trip thread in under 25 seconds on one of the printed fleece samples. However, many of the other samples had borderline results, and almost all of them burned to the 300mm mark in about 20 to 30 seconds, continuing to burn after that time too. The result is unclear whether it would pass the nightwear standard, and we found that samples burned for 1 minute and 41 seconds on average."

Retailer says: "Our F&F dressing up costumes meet all recognised industry safety standards and are made from materials that have performed best in flammability tests. We’ve also reviewed the styling of all our costumes to make sure they don’t include any long floating and potentially hazardous fabrics that trail on the floor. All costumes are tested to Nightwear British Standard, EN71 toy standard and BRC Code of Conduct . We work with industry experts to ensure the most up to date, rigorous flammability testing is conducted on our garments. We still use pretty meshes, sparkles and shiny fabrics, but through stringent risk assessment and development, we ensure our garments are constructed in a way that will reduce the risk of flammability." (credit:Tesco)

TK Maxx Witch Halloween Costume, £19.99(05 of06)

GH says: "This witch costume was the least successful performer in our test, as the flame did spread quickly enough to sever the 300mm trip thread on two of the six samples tested. This result means that it fails to meet the nightwear standard. While the flaming only lasted for an average of 35 seconds, the samples of the costume burned very quickly."

Retailer says: "At TK Maxx, our customers are our top priority and the quality and safety of the merchandise we sell is paramount. Our products are tested to the applicable safety standards, and the item referred to in the article was fully tested and safe for use as set out in those standards. Customers who would like to return the item may do so at their nearby TK Maxx store or by contacting customer service at 01923 473561." (credit:TK Maxx)

Aldi Magic Boys Mummy, £3.99(06 of06)

GH says: "The flame did not sever the 300mm trip thread, meaning that it passes the nightwear standard, but the samples did burn for 27.8 seconds on average. While this is the shortest duration for the flame among the costumes tested, all of the samples of this costume produced flaming debris."

Retailer says: "We want to help make sure everyone stays safe this Halloween and customer safety is our number one priority. All of our dress up costumes have been independently tested under strict laboratory conditions. All costumes meet both the legislative flammability requirement of the European Toy Safety standard, EN71 Part 2 for Dress Up, and the BRC Modified EN71 Part 2 test." (credit:Aldi)