Electrical Safety First operates an online recall checker, which the public can use to search for product recalls and safety actions that may affect them, and also provides further information on what steps to take.
The checker is updated with information from trading Standards, the EU Rapid-Reaction system (RAPEX) and manufacturer’s webpages, and a typical notice includes general product information including a photo and identifying characteristics, the nature of the safety issue and the manufacturer’s advice, if available.
When a recall/safety action is added to the webpage an automatic email alert is sent out to subscribers and it is posted to Electrical Safety First’s followers on social media. Over the last quarter period the recall checker has had a total of 32 electrical product recalls/safety actions added to it, compared to the previous quarter’s 16. Over the last 12 months there have been a total of 81 published, with the most notable large-scale actions being on “power bars” for mobile telephones distributed by a major network, “Swegways” or “Hoverboards” and a tumble dryer safety action, involving an estimated 4.3 million units.
Over the past quarter period, visitor numbers to the recall checker have been much higher than usual, which is predominantly due to a major UK recall of tumble dryers. This is reflected in the top five quarterly recalls:
Top 5 recall/safety actions
- Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda Tumble Dryers (February 2016) – 105,737
- Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda Tumble Dryers (November 2015) – 86,159
- Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan and Proline Tumble Dryers (Updated) 53,144
- Hoverboards – 6,398
- Amazon Fire Tablet Power Adaptors – 6,079
- Tesco 3L and 55L Slow Cookers – 4,518
The top three can be considered to be the same recall, which were updated at various points when more information became available. Grouped together they account for 245,040 views, accounting for 94% of the top 5. The third iteration, “Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Swan and Proline Tumble Dryers (Updated)” is the only one presently available on the recall checker website.
Over the same period there were 570,521 page views, meaning that this safety action alone accounted for 43% of all recalls viewed over that period.
Top brands searched for also reflect the above rankings:
- Hotpoint – 28,792
- Indesit – 10,975
- Creda – 6,432