Emollient creams

If you smoke and regularly use emollients, you can reduce your risk.  

Seek advice on quitting. You can find information and advice on quitting on the NHS Smoke Free website. It’s a good idea to speak with your GP as you are more likely to succeed in quitting with support.  The NHS can also provide advice on alternative stop smoking treatments and aids. Nicotine replacement products remove the use of naked flame when lighting a cigarette, or the heat source if you were to drop a cigarette on contaminated fabrics.

If you don’t want to quit or are not ready to quit, never smoke wearing clothes which are contaminated with emollients. Wearing uncontaminated clothes or using a smoking apron may help reduce the risk as it could prevent a dropped match or cigarette coming into contact with your clothing. 

Don’t smoke in bed, we never advise this due to the risk of falling asleep when smoking. For emollient users this is a greater risk because bed sheets and night clothes can be contaminated. As with all fabrics which may have emollient residue, we advise these items are washed regularly at the highest temperature on the care instructions. This will not completely remove the risk but can reduce it.

Depending on the person’s needs supervised smoking can also help to reduce the risk.  

You can reduce the risk when cooking by making sure you don’t cook when wearing clothes contaminated with emollients when using gas or electric hobs. 

Cooking with products with no flame and less or no direct heat will reduce the risk, so it’s safer to cook using a microwave, air fryer or induction hob. 

Where possible consider eating meals that have been prepared and easily reheated in a microwave or meals that do not need cooking.  

Take care when using candles. You must keep fabrics contaminated with emollients away from naked flames. 

Be careful when lighting candles so you do not drop a match or lighter onto clothing or furnishings, ensure you clothes don’t have emollient on them or ask someone else to light them. It’s safer to use LED candles.  

Don’t sit too close to open fires, electric bar, gas or halogen heaters. Make you sit at least 1 metre away. Remember that furniture with fabric covers and soft furnishings may also have emollient residue so ensure they are away from the heat source, and you can consider using washable throws over fabric furnishings to reduce the contamination of these. You should regularly wash any throws at the highest temperature on the care instructions.

Wash fabrics such as clothes, bed sheets and furniture throws regularly at the highest temperature indicated on the care instructions to try and remove any residue. This may reduce the risk but will not eliminate it.  

Do not dry these fabrics on or in front of heaters.  

If using a tumble dryer use a cooler temperature setting and ensure it runs the full cycle including the cool down cycle. Allow items to cool fully before folding to allow any heat to dissipate.  

The following list provides advice to carers on actions that can be taken to record and mitigate risk including:

• Personal risk assessments should be undertaken for emollient users who may be at increased risk such as smokers and oxygen users.

• Emollient cream users should be kept away from ignition sources such as naked flames and cigarettes as dressings and clothing can be easily ignited - bedding can also become impregnated, increasing flammability.

• Staff should be made aware of the added fire risk associated with residents smoking whilst using emollient creams as clothing is likely to be readily ignited by a dropped cigarette. This is particularly important where residents have a condition which places them at high risk of fire such as memory loss, confusion or drowsiness.

• Peoples clothing and bedding should be changed and washed regularly, preferably daily and at the highest possible temperature for the product.

• Residents should (where appropriate) be given information that includes advice about the potential risks associated with smoking (or being near to people who are smoking), or exposure to any naked flame or other potential source of ignition during treatment.

• Staff should ensure that residents who self-administer topical preparations are aware of and are adhering to safety advice and where this is not the case then additional control measures should be put in place.

• Relatives or carers should be informed if a resident does not comply with safety advice and instructions during treatment involving significant quantities of emollients.

• Where possible, use emollient creams with the lowest paraffin content possible or use a non-paraffin based emollient, particularly for residents using medical oxygen. This will not remove the risk but will help to reduce it.

• Discussions should take place with medical practitioners to identify alternative skin treatments where practicable, particularly where residents smoke and/or have a condition which places them at high risk of fire such as memory loss, confusion or drowsiness.

If you own or manage a commercial premises, then you must comply with fire legislation set out in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. Part of this legislation requires the responsible person to carry out a fire risk assessment to identify the hazards and consider who may be at risk. You will then be able to decide whether the risks identified are acceptable or whether you need to take steps to reduce or control them. Staff should be made aware of the findings of the fire risk assessment.

The use of emollient creams, where applicable, must be addressed as part of the fire risk assessment including the hazards associated with their use. Action must be taken to ensure that adequate control measures have been implemented to manage those risks and reduce the risk from fire.