Guidance

Crematoria: cremation standards in a national emergency

Published 4 December 2025

This document is part of the crematoria technical guidance. There are 4 more documents that cover this topic.

Read all the documents to make sure you have the information you need.

This guidance is issued as a precautionary measure in the event of a national emergency which causes mass fatalities. This guidance is without prejudice to any restrictions or requirements there may be under health and safety legislation. 

The UK or appropriate devolved government will alert regulators if an emergency exists with possible mass fatalities.  

Crematoria may need to operate for sustained or extended periods when there are mass fatalities, such as from pandemic flu. This means that it’s more likely that equipment will breakdown, including equipment for reducing emissions to air. There could also be implications for staffing of crematoria. 

Emergency planning 

Regulators and crematoria operators are reminded that it is good practice to make sure that: 

• spares and consumables are available at short notice 
• they have an audited list of essential items 
• spares and consumables subject to continual wear should be held on site - or should be available at short notice from guaranteed local suppliers so that plant breakdowns can be rectified rapidly 
• planned and preventative maintenance schedules are adhered to 
• there is a sufficient supply of flue gas treatment reagents 
• staff at all levels have the necessary training and instruction in their duties relating to the control of the process and emissions to air and refer to the crematorium technicians training 

Regulators and crematoria operators should also bear in mind that: 

• larger quantities of spares and consumables may be needed in the event of an emergency causing mass fatalities 
• an emergency causing mass fatalities may have implications for the number of trained staff that can be called upon 

To minimise the potential for breakdowns during such an emergency, operators should draw up a simple plan. This should mainly address the holding of additional spares and consumables and the training of suitable numbers of staff. 

This plan must be made available on request to the regulator for inspection. 

If permit conditions are breached during an emergency 

In an emergency, there might be a: 

• breakdown of equipment affecting emissions to air 
• shortage of staff trained on the air pollution aspects of operating the crematorium  
• heightened demand which warrants operating an unabated standby cremator for longer than the 100 hours allowed  

In such circumstances, and in the public interest, regulators should take a balanced view of enforcement action in the event of a breach of permit conditions. 

If best efforts have been taken to reduce the likelihood of a breakdown or staff shortage, it may be appropriate to allow a crematorium to continue to operate for a period of time while breaching permit conditions, without enforcement action. 

Air Quality Management Areas 

One consideration may be whether the crematorium in question is located in a local Air Quality Management Area for any of the pollutants emitted from the crematorium. In such cases, steps should be taken to rectify the breaches where practicable and as soon as is possible.  

When the emergency is over  

The UK or appropriate devolved government will alert regulators when the emergency is over and when this guidance no longer applies. 

Special allowances should not continue when the emergency is over.