North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is urging businesses that use tumble dryers to take extra safety precautions to prevent fires. This includes restaurants, pubs, hotels, care homes, health suites, spas and salons. Laundry fires continue to occur in commercial premises across the United Kingdom.

Fires can be caused by laundry of cotton or linen once dried, either being stacked or folded while still hot or loaded into bags or containers, thus not allowing the heat from drying to escape.

Chef’s whites, aprons, tea towels and cloths are often contaminated with organic cooking oils and fats that can self-heat and ignite if dried and stored without allowing sufficient time to cool. The same principle applies to towels, bedding etc. which have been contaminated with organic oils used for massage in health suites and spas, and to items contaminated with emollient creams, for example in care settings.

Oils may not be removed if the wash cycle temperature is too low (many washing machines have “ECO” programmes which use cold or low-temperature water). You should ensure that laundry items are washed at a suitable high temperature with a good quality washing detergent. Some stain-removing detergents contain oxygenating chemicals which, combined with heat and residual oil or fat, can increase the risk of self-heating. Cotton and towelling items can also ignite if they are allowed to overheat in a dryer.

Laundry appliances themselves - tumble dryers, washing machines and dishwashers CAN and DO cause fires. If you don’t clean and maintain your appliances you run the risk of fire and potential loss to your business.

Safety Considerations

•    Ensure wash temperatures and detergents are suitable for the removal of oils and fats
•    Allow laundry to complete the full cooling cycle in the dryer (don’t interrupt the cycle or remove items early)
•    Once the cooling cycle has finished, remove laundry promptly, shake it out to ventilate, and hang hot or slightly damp items to cool before folding
•    Ensure any stack or pile is well ventilated, and don’t stack or pile laundry while it is still warm
•    Don’t place warm, damp laundry in polythene bags or containers in poorly ventilated areas
•    Clean filters after EVERY use, and clean condensers, heat exchangers and exhaust ducting in line with the manufacturer’s instructions
•    NEVER leave laundry appliances running unattended or overnight
•    DON’T overload the laundry appliance
•    Follow the manufacturer’s instructions, and have appliances serviced regularly by a qualified engineer
•    Register appliances at www.registermyappliance.org.uk and check for product recalls
•    Laundry rooms are risk rooms and should be adequately enclosed with fire resisting construction, including a fire resisting self-closing door
•    Automatic fire detection should be provided in the room
•    Display this advice next to the dryers and make sure all staff who handle laundry are aware of it
•    Review your “Fire Risk Assessment” to include laundry fire risks.

Your legal duties

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person for non-domestic premises in England and Wales must carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. Since 1 October 2023, changes made by section 156 of the Building Safety Act 2022 mean the responsible person must record the fire risk assessment in full, together with the fire safety arrangements for the premises. If you appoint someone to carry out or review your assessment, you should ensure they are competent to do so.

Further advice and guidance is available from the Business Education Team on 01745 535 250.