Half of all fridges ‘would fail stringent safety test’

Millions of our fridges would fail a stringent safety test, it is claimed.

Flammable plastic panels on the back of fridges could be endangering lives, the consumer group Which? has warned.

nearly half of fridges and freezers from top brands, including Zanussi, smeg, Hoover and Electrolux, have these panels.

Plastic panels are considered safe based on tests carried out under the British standard. However, Which? argues the tests are flawed and do not ensure the appliances are safe.

The British standard requires fridges and freezers to pass a ‘glow wire’ test to assess fire resistance. This involves putting a hot wire through the backing panel and checking it fails to catch light within 30 seconds.

Which? conducted a more stringent ‘needle flame’ test assessing the impact of a small flame. it found that two samples of nonflame-retardant plastic backing caught fire after just ten seconds. By contrast, metal laminate panels did not catch fire after five minutes of exposure to a flame.

Which? said that 46 per cent of fridges and freezers on the market have plastic backing that is not flame retardant and is subject to the less stringent test.

There are more than five fires caused by household appliances every day. The warning by Which? comes in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, which claimed 71 lives and was triggered by a faulty fridge freezer. it is not yet known if it had a plastic panel.

Which? is not advocating a recall but it has stopped recommending the purchase of appliances with plastic backing panels. it is also calling on the Government to urgently set up a new product safety regulator.

Manufacturers have recognised the need to toughen safety standards, but improvements to the test and materials will not be implemented for at least a year.

But Alex neill, of Which?, said: ‘Manufacturers must... immediately stop making fridges, freezers and fridge freezers to a standard that is clearly deficient and could potentially be putting people’s lives at risk.’

The manufacturers’ trade body, AMDEA, said: ‘All fridge freezers sold in the UK must comply with the current, globally agreed safety standards.’

‘People’s lives at risk’