Spark disposable gas lighter - Safety First

SPARK is one of the first cigarette lighters with the Child Resistant Feature to enter the UK and EU marketplace. It is obvious from the evidence below that it is a worthwhile process to invest in, and safeguards the lives of both children and adults alike.

Every year, numerous fires, injuries and even deaths occur, as a result of children playing with cigarette lighters.

As the statistics of such incidents continue to increase, the need for Child Resistant mechanisms to be fitted to cigarette lighters, has become ever more urgent.

In 1994, the mandatory requirement for all cigarette lighters to be Child Resistant came into force in the USA.

This initiative was introduced soon after in Canada in 1995, followed closely by Australia and New Zealand in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

The enforcement of such standards moved Europe itself to take a look at the number of similar, lighter induced accidents, and the potential benefits of introducing their own variation of a Child Safety Standard for cigarette lighters.

Following thorough research (see graph 1), the European Commission mandated the production of an EU standard for Child Resistant Lighters, and the draft format was presented for approval in March 2000.

The European Standards will be virtually the same as that introduced in the USA, however it will not be enforced until June 2005, in order to allow manufacturers to update and amend their production processes and clear their stocks of non-compliant lighters.

In anticipation of this new standard, we have spent the last 18 months developing a cigarette lighter which is fully Child Resistant, and which will be available well in advance of the deadlines set.

In order to see the benefits of such a mechanism, one only need look at the measurable effects seen throughout the USA prior and subsequent to the introduction of the standard.

There is a distinct decrease in the number of deaths, injuries and fires caused by children under the age of 5 playing with cigarette lighters, following the introduction of the mandatory Child Resistant Standard in 1994. Although no figures are available for our the UK or EU market at present, as the standard has not yet been enforced, graph 2 demonstrates the potential of the Child Resistant cigarette lighter.

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