FFMA to reach quality testing scheme milestone
A quality assurance scheme run by the Funeral Furnishing Manufacturers’ Association (FFMA) is on course to hit a product testing milestone in 2021.
The FMMA’s coffin and casket protocol is expected to achieve 180 coffins assessed for strength and quality in the coming months.
Since launching in 2016, the protocol has been deployed to test 170 products made by the association’s 60 members, who comprise a “high percentage of the British coffin making sector”. Coffin materials checked under the protocol range from oak veneer and wicker to picture coffins and cardboard.
According to the FFMA, the aim of the testing scheme is to ensure “coffins, caskets and shrouds are safe for use in both cremation and burial settings, bringing peace of mind to bereaved families, crematoria and burial ground operators and funeral directors”.
Alun Tucker, chief executive, FFMA said: “We’re incredibly pleased with how the scheme has embedded itself within the sector as the standard for quality assurance in just a few short years. And with 170 products tested so far, we can be confident that the majority of coffin and casket ranges presented for funerals in the UK are of exceptionally good build quality.
“This is essential to families, who need to know that the products supplied for a loved one’s final journey will perform as intended. It’s also a vital health and safety issue for funeral directors and employees at crematoria, cemeteries and burial grounds.”
He added: “The last thing anyone wants is a coffin or casket igniting too soon during charging at a crematorium, or the base collapsing whilst lowering into a grave. With the FFMA’s protocol, everyone involved in the funeral can be assured that an accredited coffin is a safe and dignified coffin.”
