Electrical Safety First's response to the publication of the Governments Product Safety Review

12 November 2021

Commenting on the publication of the Governments Product Safety Review, Lesley Rudd, Chief Executive of Electrical Safety First commented: “We welcome the Government’s announcement of their plans to shake up the UK’s product safety legislation system. It provides a real opportunity to create a new legislative landscape that will meet the changing needs of the transition to net zero and support business innovation, as well as addressing the serious safety issues facing consumers living in a progressively digital world.

 

The gaps in the law that currently expose consumers to thousands of dangerous goods for sale via online marketplaces and other social media now have a real opportunity to be plugged once and for all.”

 

Notes to editor:

  • Electrical Safety First has continued to call for changes to the law to prevent the sale of dangerous electrical goods by third party sellers via online marketplaces
  • Previous investigations by the charity have discovered electrical products with serious safety flaws including hair dryers that have failed basic fire safety tests and phone chargers that leave the consumer exposed to serious electric shock. Previous imagery of these tests and their failures can be found at the following link to download. Please credit Electrical Safety First for imagery used: https://we.tl/t-4AQGidGa5C
  • Electrical Safety First launched a petition calling for action on online marketplaces which has now generated more than 27,000 signatures https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/stop-the-sale-of-dangerous-electrical-goods-on-online-marketplaces/