The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has been working with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) on a campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers surrounding Halloween costumes.
The campaign – which uses the hashtag #scaresafely – has been designed to advise consumers to buy fancy dress and Halloween costumes from legitimate sources while also checking costumes carry appropriate safety labels. The CTSI believes that consumers should be aware of any potential dangers that come with fancy dress clothing, especially involving children and open flames.
The key messages of the campaign are:
- Keep children in fancy dress away from naked flames, and
- Always buy from legitimate sellers and check labelling for safety markings, such as CE markings.
As part of the campaign, CTSI has produced a number of digital resources which it has been sharing through a number of Government-backed social media channels.
The OPSS has also asked a number of consumer protection partners and key stakeholder organisations to help by sharing these messages, stating that; “Your involvement in this campaign will help ensure members of the public are educated on the dangers that come with Halloween costumes and are able to enjoy the spooky holiday safely.“
In addition to a number of downloadable campaign materials, the The Journal of Trading Standards has also published an advice feature which explores the key safety messages of the campaign (with some input from the anti-piracy team at Rubies Masquerade) and signposts to additional sources of information.
