The Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) and the Electrical Safety Council have expressed public criticism over current arrangements for recalling dangerous consumer products. They say that the success rate when it comes to recalling products is incredibly low, standing at around 10 to 20 percent.
The current system used to recall faulty products is “unsuccessful and insufficient“, according to CFOA. The outcome is that there are potentially millions of items within homes capable of causing a fire. And as many of these are the type which are left in use in a kitchen, unsupervised, the risks of a fatal fire are significant.
The comments were made as an ITV documentary was due to be shown, How Safe Is Your Kitchen?
The Fire Industry Association reports that since 2011, 49 products have been recalled. It says:
The problem is knowing whether or not a product in a person’s home has been recalled. There is no central hub to go to and it is easy to miss communications from firms announcing that a device requires repair, which poses great fire safety risks.
Big mistake
One of the largest recalls in recent times must be that of the Beko fridge/freezers (which manufacturer Arcelik would apparently prefer you to call a “re-work”). Having cornered the market in low-cost white goods, Beko found that it had just under half a million products to recall in 2008 when its frost-free fridge/freezers were diagnosed with a dangerous fault. The recall affected 37 models sold between 2000 and 2006.
London Fire Brigade thinks there were 20 fires in the capital alone involving the fridges since 2008, including one in a tower block. These fires have seen 15 people injured and one person die.
By 2010, investigations by fire services narrowed down the cause to the defrost timer where condensation could cause overheating and fire. But Reuters reports how the company which owned the brand had not acted quickly enough in response to the fire service notification, wishing to rely on mail-shots to known customers rather than media adverts.
“Product Safety in Europe: A Guide to corrective action including recalls” is the closest Europe has to a rule book surrounding recalls, according to Reuters. While the guide says that personal contact is the best way to inform consumers with faulty appliances, there is also a warning saying that manufacturers should not rely on a mail-shot alone.
Arcelik’s UK country manager told Reuters his company believes it did its best to protect consumers: “Being open and honest, we really had all the right reasons and the best intentions with safety in mind”.
Low penalty
It seems that a significant part of the problem is that the laws regarding recalls are weak. The maximum fine for making an error is just GB pound 5,000.
In May 2013, The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) held its conference on the theme, “Safety of Electrical Products – A 360 degrees Approach”. A primary focus of the event was the challenge of traceability and the recall process.
During the conference, the ESC announced its proposed solutions for the pitiful 10 percent success rate of recall campaigns. The solutions they say fall into the categories of standards, enforcement, and consumer trust.
Martyn Allen, Head of the ESC’s Technical Unit, said: “What we are calling for as a penalty is proportionate to the profit they make on that recalled product. To me, the penalty should actually hurt if they are going to take notice. At the moment there is no incentive to take action”.
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Claire I am just coming at this from the point of a consumer but really I am guilty of not following on developments that occur with the products that I buy. Really after reading your article I have had to think of it as I am placing these things around my family and then never following up on them to see if they have any recalls or safety issues so really as a consumer I have to take some of that blame too because honestly someone could be shouting from the roof tops about an issue and I may or… Read more »
As much as there needs to be, I always struggle to envisage an effective way of notifying consumers. Clearly it’s for smarter people than me. If you think of the sheer number of products in your home, how could you possibly hear about every story?
And on a related matter the Government’s dilution of the Part P Regs, so non qualified sparkies ie DIY’ers can again install electrics in wet areas (bathrooms/kitchens) will surely only increase the fire & safety risk.
I know the Contractor Bodies(ECA/NIC/NAPIT) & the Electrical Safety Council were very unhappy at this change.Applies to England & Wales, but I imagine Welsh Assembly will soon be doing their own thing, as they did with Sprinklers.
Bizarre, what was the thinking behind the relaxation of rules?
There was a consultation; details of relaxations are here:
(Site won’t let me insert as a hypalink).
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/approveddocuments/partp/approved
I know the focus of this article is consumer products, and although I have been invloved in electrical safety testig for household products, the greatest number of voilations and potential hazards we see is for electrical products and systems in the workplace. I don’t think many employers realize the liability they are facing, because even if this hazardous equipment is not identified by an electrical inspector, contractor or facility safety manager, the owner of the workplace is still resonsible if something happens. Here’s a quick look at the federal regulations for the workplace: 29CFR1910.399 – Definitions 29CFR1910.303a – Subpart S… Read more »
I think this should be addressed quickly. A proper law should be enforced to check the quality of the electrical items before its been thrown towards the customers.
Hm, that site’s down currently, so I’ll have to look another time.
Thanks @Greg Smith, the liability point is important. But, as an employer, if an electrical inspector fails to spot a potential hazard according to these regulations, what can you realistically do? Surely, it’s too much to expect a business to be familiar with all of the eletrical safety rules and recalls? That’s what you employ such contractors for?
Hi Rob, unfortunately many contractors and inspectors are not even familiar with the requirements. The best thing a facility owner can do is write something specific in their purchasing requirements such as “Any electrical device or product must be Listed or Labeled by a Nationally Recognized Testing laboratory, to UL, ANSI, NFPA Standards. etc”. This has helped equipment buyers screen our potentially hazardous products, and if one does get through, the supplier is in violation of the purchase agreement, and may be made to 1). Lose the sale, 2). Get the equipment evaluated (And possibly corrected), 3). Replace the equipment… Read more »
I aree that we need good and working laws and proper verification processes before these products made their way to consumers. Also the standard board needs to pick some of these products at random to test its compliances with the set standards
…or possibly more serious consequences should such action lead to an incident?
@Robert Brown: Yes definitely the possibilities are there but I feel that its not a high risk as such. Anyway it can turn towards either side anytime.
Checking the products for safety, withdrawals is vital to ensure you and your familiy is protected from the risk of faulty electric appliances.
I was just so dering how the retailers could notify the customers on any updates of faulty equipment. Its easier if the retailers could send customers a mail if and when they find a problem with the modle the customer purchased.
I wonder why the government relaxes the rules of health and safety. Ideally they should be tighning it to protect the customers.
Having laws regulations and frequent audits to monitor and control qulaity of products is essential to ensure the product reached to the customer is safe.
Its not the fault of the manufacture entirely, its the duty of the governme t to impose laws to protect the customer.
Interesting perspective, counter to most. Why is it the Government’s resposibility if a manufacturer has produced a faulty product in breach of regulations?
@Robert Brown If a company breached the regulations or laws, it is solely government and law enforcement agencies to make sure that these companies are punished
Rob, we all pay taxes, if Manf. Committing a film-flam gov. do need to intervene and bring inspectors on site to find/locate the problem and if necessary via legal means stop/prevent manf. to produce faulty products or close the factory… gov responsibility is to protect it citizens – how I see it…