When it comes to testing furniture products, SATRA is here to help, says its business area manager and head of furniture testing, Johnny Worthington, who has worked at SATRA for 26 years in a number of technical roles, and currently leads a team of experts that test and evaluate the safety, stability and durability of customers’ products …
Whether we’re considering tables, sofas, wardrobes or chairs, the bottom line is that the product has to be fit for purpose and safe to use. That’s at the root of everything we do here at SATRA, and all of the standards to which we test. We’re ensuring that the products that pass through our doors meet the most stringent requirements, and personally I’m driven to provide the excellent customer service, advice and rigorous testing that our customers have come to expect.
The general public might not realise the efforts that are made to make sure that the products they use every day are safe. The General Product Safety Regulations effectively state that anyone, any member of the public, should be safe to use any product, from a pen to a car, without coming to harm.
And what’s the best way to know if your product is safe? To have it tested to the relevant performance standards! Furniture testing, at its simplest, means assessing the strength, durability and stability of a product, but it can often be a lot more involved than that.
I understand that standards, regulations and testing can all be very confusing for manufacturers or newcomers to the industry, which is why we’re always happy to help and to talk customers through the standards and regulations that they need to be aware of.
As well as the physical testing requirements for furniture, there are also flammability requirements and applicable chemical restricted substances legislation. We offer advice and guidance for physical, chemical and flammability testing at our head office in Kettering, Northamptonshire. SATRA has modern laboratory facilities and ISO 17025 accreditation to provide testing that meets our customers’ needs.
The main piece of advice I’d give to manufacturers, suppliers and retailers would be to keep product test reports up to date in accordance with current standards. Standards change, and are frequently revised to reflect industry developments, the latest materials and technologies, and the demands of the market. Keeping up to date with the latest standards means that your products are being developed with current, state-of-the-art performance requirements in mind, and that products fulfilling those requirements will meet the demanding requirements of the market.
Also, I’d strongly suggest making use of any free resources that are available, to get more information on technical matters and the latest industry developments. SATRA regularly offer webinars on technical subjects, as well as producing articles on standards, regulations and test methods, which are available for free on our website.
I think that the furniture industry is currently in a very healthy state, with a great deal of innovation and creativity feeding into the development of new products. We’re seeing some exciting new designs, new materials, and more stringent and safety-focused test methods, as well as greater awareness of environmental issues among manufacturers and consumers, and better understanding of the need for more sustainable manufacture.
These are exciting times for the furniture industry, and I’m proud to be a part of it.
