Category: Legeslation

Legislation

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The Nightwear (Safety) Legislation 1985 

Nightwear can be very dangerous as it is often worn around heat sources such as open fires as well as gas and electric fires. This is especially true for the elderly as well as children. Many practices have been made law in order to better control flammability of nightwear in order to increase safety and lower nightwear related casualties, this is done through The Nightwear Safety Regulations of 1985.

The Nightwear Safety Regulation of 1985 ensures that every person who supplies garments which are intended to be sold as nightwear are only suppling garments which meet the laws high safety standard. This law applies to manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, and retailers both in store and online but does not apply to nightwear which will be exported and pre-owned nightwear.

Children

The main requirements for children’s nightwear which applies to children between the ages of 3 months and 13 years old are that they cannot measure any bigger than the measurements stated in the regulation. The measurements are:

Nightdresses

  • Chest: 91 cm
  • Length: 122 cm

Dressing Gowns, Bath Robes etc. 

  • Chest : 97 cm
  • Sleeve: 69 cm

 

Flammability Standards 

Nightdresses and dressing gowns have to by law fulfil flammability tests to a suitable standard whereas pyjamas and towels do not have to fulfil flammability tests to a suitable standard but must have a permanent label attached to the garment showing if they fulfil the flammability standard given.

Babies

The main requirements for children’s nightwear which applies to children between the ages of 0 months and 3 months old are that they cannot measure any bigger than the measurements stated in the regulation. The measurements are:

  • Chest – 53 centimetres.

 

Flammability

All clothing made for babies must have a permanent label attached to the garment showing if they fulfil the flammability standard given or not.

 

Adults

Flammability

All adults nightwear including any garment which is commonly worn as nightwear such as bath robes by law has to have a permanent label attached which tells the consumer whether or not the nightwear complies with the suggested flammability standards. The flammability law applies to the entire garment in question which will include all threads, trims, decorations and labels. The only things exempt from this law is elastic and elastic threads. Any nightwear which has been treated with chemicals in order to meet the flammability standard must also show on the label a warning about what can and cannot be used to wash the garment.

Label Requirements

Any nightwear that does not meet the laws flammability standard must have a label with the words.

KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE

Any nightwear that does meet the flammability laws must also carry a label which has contains one of the following phrases;

LOW FLAMMABILITY TO BS 5722

LOW FLAMMABILITY TO BS 5722 as well as KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE

KEEP AWAY FROM FIRE

All words have to by law be in medium letters in upper case and be in the size of 10 point.

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The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012

The Textile Products Regulation of 2012 ensures that all textile items must carry a label which states the contents of the fibres. This has to be shown on either the label or packaging and every individual fibre content must be shown however small. Textile items must use the common name for each fibre as to not confuse the consumer which is  clearly stated in the regulation and certain products are exempt from showing fibre content at all. Products that do not need to have a label containing fibre content includes;

  • Animal clothing
  • oven gloves
  • cloths
  • safety items such as parachutes and life jackets
  • tapestries
  • watch straps

Textile Products

A textile product is seen to be one of the below;

  • Any raw or manufactured product which us made out of fibres.
  • A product that weight is made up of at least 80% textile fibres.
  • fibre content of things such as carpets and mattresses
  • fibres which are in other products where textiles are specified in the item.

Fur and Animal Product

Customers have to by law also be made aware of any animal product is in a textile such as leather or fur.

When animal product is used that is not typically used in textile manufacture such as fur or leather the the label must state this with the sentence.

“contains non-textile parts of animal origin”

Another optional thing the manufacturer can put on the label is information on the animal product used examples of this being things such as lambskin but either way the phrase above has to be used by law.

This also ensures that the consumer knows if they are receiving real or faux fur and mislabelling this is against the law. It is also illegal to sell, import or export any product made of cat, dog or seal fur.

Labelling

All items made with textiles (except exclusions) have to carry a label on the item or packaging which states the fibre content of the fibres used This label must be durable, easy to read and access.

If the item is supplied to a retailer and the total fibre content of the item is at least 85% of the total product and contains a minimum of 2 fibres the garment should state each fibre along with a percentage of the total content eg. Cotton 95% Elastaine 5%. If the product is made up of more than one component such as a piece of clothing which contains a lining the fibre content of both the garment and the lining must be shown on the label.

Any trims, finishes or surface decoration that makes up 7% or less of the total product is excluded from this law. The term “pure” can only be used when the product is made of only one fibre eg. pure cotton. The term “silk” can only be used for products made of pure silk fibre and not a combination fibre such as silk acetate.

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Trade Marks Act 1994

A trade mark is defined as anything used to distinguish a product or service from other products or services. A trade mark can consist of words, phrases, graphics, designs or even the products shape or package. A trade mark that has been registered has the right to claim for copyright infringement from anyone who has tried to copy their product any any way which they have registered as their brands trade mark.  Any trade mark of products that have not been registered have no protection from being copied from other brands and do not have the same rights. There are many ways which a trade mark can be infringed, below is a few examples.

  • If a seller or manufacturer who does not have permission from the brand in question uses a mark or phrase which is identical to a trademark which has already been registered eg, Nike uses the brands mark on a similar product without any modification to the logo or phrase. This counts minor logo or phrase changes which would be unnoticeable to the average consumer’s eyes.
  • When a seller or manufacturer adds an identical trademark which on a similar product or service or a similar trademark on identical products or service from that brand.  This creates confusion with customers on the origin of the product or service and the possible link between the two trade marks.

nike-logo

 

References

Newcastle City Council . (2019). Guidance on the Safety of Nightwear.Available: https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/business/trading-standards/product-safety/guidance-on-the-safety-of-nightwear. Last accessed 14/01/19.

gov.uk. (2019). The Nightwear (Safety) Regulations 1985. Available: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1985/2043/schedules/made. Last accessed 14/01/19.

Business Companion . (2019). Labelling of textiles. Available: https://www.businesscompanion.info/en/quick-guides/goods/labelling-of-textiles. Last accessed 14/01/19.

gov.uk. (2019). The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012. Available: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1102/contents/made. Last accessed 14/01/19.

gov.uk. (2019). The Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012. Available: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1994/26/contents. Last accessed 14/01/19.

British Library. (2019). A beginner’s guide to trademark infringement.Available: https://www.bl.uk/business-and-ip-centre/articles/a-beginners-guide-to-trade-mark-infringement. Last accessed 14/01/19.

Waveguide. (2016). Nike Logo. Available: http://www.waveguide.com/nike-logo/. Last accessed 14/01/19.

baby centre . (2014). Flammable clothes. Available: https://community.babycenter.com/post/a50713099/flammable_clothes. Last accessed 14/01/19.

Wikipedia. (2019). Textile Labelling Act (Germany). Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_Labelling_Act_(Germany). Last accessed 14/01/19.