Manufacturing furniture covers a range of businesses — makers of upholstered furniture and mattresses, wooden furniture, kitchen and office furniture, and shop and other fitted furniture. They share a starting point: furniture-making is machinery- and dust-intensive, working with wood, foams, fabrics, adhesives and finishes, so the workplace health and safety duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 apply to all of you — with wood dust a particular concern. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) regulates in Great Britain and HSENI in Northern Ireland.
On top of that, furniture carries its own product rules. Upholstered furniture and mattresses must meet strict fire-safety requirements, and all furniture must meet general product safety. Use the routes below to find the guides written for your kind of business.
Find your route
Every furniture manufacturer needs both routes below — the factory foundation and the furniture product rules. Work through them, then confirm everything with the checklist.
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1
Run a safe factory and employ people
Whatever you make, start with the universal spine. Follow "Set up and run a safe furniture factory" for your health and safety, wood-dust and finishing COSHH controls, work equipment, manual handling, fire safety, insurance, equality and data protection duties.
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2
Meet the furniture fire-safety and product-safety rules
Upholstered furniture and mattresses must meet the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 — ignition-resistance tests and labelling — and all furniture must meet general product safety. Follow "Meet the furniture fire-safety and product-safety rules".
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3
Confirm you have covered everything
Finish with the furniture manufacturer compliance checklist to confirm your obligations are met before you sell.
Open the guide you need
- Set up and run a safe furniture factory — the universal spine for every manufacturer.
- Meet the furniture fire-safety and product-safety rules — the fire-safety regulations and general product safety for what you sell.
- Furniture manufacturer compliance checklist — confirm you have covered everything.
Official sources
Authoritative starting points for furniture manufacturing.