Business advice: candlemakers In this feature local trade product safety collaboration Lighting the way After a request from an individual seller, Rob Abell noticed the lack of regulatory guidance for candlemakers in the UK so he created new rules for budding entrepreneurs C andles have been a part of human history for millennia. The Romans were known to make them in 500 BC, evidence emerges of their use in China around 200 BC, and the oldest candle fragment ever found unearthed in France dates back to the first century AD. The materials used to create them have evolved over centuries and the current-day legislation ensuring their safety has evolved, too. In August 2015, a question arose that shone a light on the lack of regulatory guidance and support to UK candlemakers. After collaboration with the British Candlemakers Federation (BCF), newguidance tools were launched for the industry in March 2016. With the increase of online selling groups on Facebook and other social media many home-based hobbies are turning into small-scale businesses. Navigating the law and ensuring consumer safety can be a challenge, and many small businesses dont realise that trading standards is there to help. In a time of cuts to services, sharingknowledge and experience through collaboration can create acrucial resource. Rob Abell says sharing knowledge and experience can create a crucial resource Safety side Recent attention has focused on the chemical components of candles. The classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) regulation originates from 2008, but it has only recently been fully recognised that candles come under the legislation which, most obviously, covers products such as floor cleaner and bleach. Added to the many existing safety requirements the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR) as well as the three European standards concerned with candle safety, BSEN 15426, BS EN 15493 and BS EN 15494 it can be a regulatory maze for new entrants to the industry. Physical safety has often been the main focus of concern, with data suggesting that candles account for around five per cent of household fires each year, although the figures are falling. Yet chemical safety is crucial, and represents the more hidden dangers of candles. Preventing streaming eyes, rashes and allergic reactions is key to consumer safety and ensuring high standards in the industry. If trading standards were not here, where else would small businesses turn for something like this? Candles to sell Well done this is a fantastic effort on your part in particular and will be an extremely useful guidance and reference for everyone, I have no doubt about that! A big thank you from me! Barbra Scoins-Arden I was contacted by Barbra Scoins-Arden, who wanted to make candles in her home to sell at local flea markets, craft fairs and farmers markets. She was unsure where to start, but was getting confusing messages from the raw material wholesalers. The legislation is complicated, not specific to candles and can be off-putting Barbra needed advice, reassurance and someone to talk the legislation through with. She wanted a checklist that listed the important milestones in the journey of getting products ready for market. In addition to practical advice, she was much in need of legal guidance a supplier was trying to charge her for data sheets that she was entitled to free of charge. When she confidently returned to the supplier saying: Trading standards said. she got the data she needed forno charge. I started interpreting the legislation to answer her queries, and realised there was little information in the trading standards community about how this law relates to small businesses. As a result, there is a lackof coordination and consistency in how trading standards approachthe issue. Collaboration Will Locke, chair of the British Candlemakers Federation I made contact with the BCF to find out the industrys interpretation and actions. I also posted on Khub the trading standards knowledge hub to see if any officers could offer help or share experience in this very specific area. It emerged that everyone had been finding their way individually. So,to help Barbra and others like her, other trading standards officers and any other new business start-ups, the idea of creating a factsheet was born. Alongside this, as a complementary document, I created the tick-box checklist that Barbra needed. Working with the BCF meant that there was valuable expert input because we are general practitioners of the law and therefore not technical experts. Though we normally have to pay the expert witnesses we deal with, this was a cost-free solution, as the BCF realised it was something they should be doing to advise candlemakers and improve standards. Having the trading standards stamp on it lent extra credibility, so it was a worthwhile collaboration. From my experience, it is individuals who can really push initiatives forward, and I built up a relationship with the chair of the BCFs technical committee, Will Locke. After various drafts, discussions and helping Barbra through her journey, we now have a final version, which was launched at the BCF annual general meeting at the NEC Birmingham in March. The BCF membership, which covers about 90 to 95 per cent of the candlemaking industry, now have access to the factsheet and checklist. The remaining five per cent are the small-scale, hobby and home producers that we are working to reach with the help of the BCF, the raw material wholesalers and fellow trading standards officers. BATTLE THROUGH IT WILL PAY OFF A useful resource In future, I will be able to hand candle-sellers a factsheet, which is a lot easier than explaining all the legal requirements and I hope that it will help other colleagues, too. If we are all working to the same materials, a consistent approach becomes possible. The factsheet will now always be there as a reference. Being on the journey with Barbra was a learning curve for me too, so when she sells her first candle, were going for cake to celebrate. Its helped me to understand the needs of small traders better, and to produce ahelpful resource for small businesses working to produce and sell candles. Though its an issue that may not make national news, if trading standards was not here, where else would small businesses turn for something like this? In a time of cuts to trading standards, projects such as this can be difficult. However, in the long term, it makes sense to frontload the work to create factsheets, links and collaborations now. Its difficult, but I would say battle through, because it will pay off. How would I advise other trading standards officers who come across similar guidancelacking issues? Use Khub, the knowledge hub. Dont be frightened to ask for help. Find and link up with colleagues in other areas, and dont be hesitant to use the support CTSI offers. For example, we have a great speaker from CTSI lined up for our next talks with the British Candlemakers Federation (BCF), as part of efforts to strengthen the collaboration. Also, while we are able to help individual traders, you can reach far more people by getting trade associations onboard. For copies of the factsheet and the checklist, please click here. For further information, please email Rob Abell. Credits Rob Abell is fair trading officer for the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead. Images: Brian S / Shutterstock To share this page, in the toolbar click on