Citation

Gordon PG, Pressley TA. Burns 1978; 5(1): 13-18.

Affiliation

CSIRO, Division of Protein Chemistry, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

Copyright

(Copyright © 1978, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The fire hazard of clothing depends on three factors: (a) the combustion characteristics of the fabric, (b) the design of the garment and (c) the way the garment is used and the environment in which it is used. As combustion characteristics depend not only on a fabric's chemical, physical and textile properties but also on its orientation and environment, the Australian Standard Test has been designed specifically to discriminate against those fabrics which are known to be potentially dangerous for nightwear on the basis of a test to measure three separate combustion characteristics. The Australian Nightwear Standards place great emphasis on safe design principles. Close-fitting nightwear is invariably safer than long, loose nightwear though it may be made from the same material. This indicates the importance of not basing fire hazard standards and legislation solely on the combustion characteristics of the fabric. The significance and effectiveness of safe design is readily shown by manikin burn experiments. In Australia, children's nightwear is classified into three categories of potential fire hazard and a consumer labelling system, mandatory throughout the commonwealth has been devised to describe these categories.