Safety testing of decorative oil lamps and paraffin lighting appliances

Safety Testing of Decorative Oil Lamps and Paraffin Lighting Appliances

Oil lamps and similar products must be safe. It is possible that unsafe products may cause injury or even death.

Obviously, poorly designed or manufactured products may be a fire hazard but there are also dangers that are not so immediately apparent. Ingestion of lamp oils can lead to severe lung damage and even death. Small children aged 1-3 years of age are at particular risk as very small amounts of lamp oil can cause serious pulmonary complications with lethal consequenses.

Regulations

The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 will control the safety of this type of product. These Regulations provide a legal framework to ensure that a producer or distributor supplies a safe product.

Relevant Standards

There are several British Standards relevant to this type of product.

BS EN 14059: Decorative oil lamps – Safety requirements and test methods. This standard for oil lamps aims primarily to restrict the access of small children to the lamp oil contained in the lamps, but also covers some other safety aspects. The standard is applicable to oil lamps for interior and exterior use appealing by its design and/or the light atmosphere it creates.
BS 2049: Paraffin lighting appliances for domestic use. This standard is aimed at oil lamps that are designed to provide light.

Both of these standards require a guard to be present to prevent access to the wick and if a guard is not present the product could be considered to be unsafe.

Available Tests

Listed below is a selection of tests that can be carried out by Leicestershire Scientific Services.

BS EN 14059: Sharp edges, sharp points, stability, impact strength,wick guard, filler cap, leakage, child appeal.
BS 2049: Stability, lighting, guards, continuous burning, fuel creep, flame creep, safety on overturning.