Emollient Safety

Each year more than 500 children are injured and 11 are killed in fires in the home in England. Helping children understand how to prevent fire and how to act if there is a fire is a vital step towards reducing the risk fire poses to children. See below guidance for parents, teachers and carers.

Persons who regularly use paraffin-based emollients, their families and/or carers should be advised as follows:

Smoking or a naked flame could cause patients’ dressings or clothing to catch fire when being treated with paraffin-based emollient that is in contact with the dressing or clothing.
Advise patients not to: smoke; use naked flames (or be near people who are smoking or using naked flames); or go near anything that may cause a fire while emollients are in contact with their medical dressings or clothing.
Change patient clothing and bedding regularly—preferably daily—because emollients soak into fabric and can become a fire hazard.
When patients are being treated with a paraffin-based emollient product that is covered by a dressing or clothing, there is a danger that smoking or using a naked flame could cause dressings or clothing to catch fire.
The risk is greater when these preparations are applied to large areas of the body, or when dressings or clothing become soaked with emollient.

Examples of paraffin-based emollients include: