Customers Still at Risk From Faulty Electrical Products

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”.