Half of fridges ‘wouldn’t get through tough fire safety test’
‘People’s lives at risk’
MIllIoNs of our fridges would fail a stringent safety test, it has been 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 and Hoover, 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 non-flame-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 has been mounting alarm at the number of fires caused by household appliances such as tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers, fridges and freezers. The figure for England alone is running at five a day, causing enormous damage, distress and even death.
The warning from 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 recom- mending the purchase of appliances with plastic backing panels. As a result, it has removed 28 fridges and freezers from its list of ‘Best Buy’ products.
It is also calling on the Government to urgently set up a new product safety regulator. It would ensure products on the market are safe and that any with a safety issue are quickly repaired or recalled.
Manufacturers have recognised the need to toughen safety standards – although improvements to tests and materials will not be implemented for at least a year.
But Alex Neill, of Which?, said: ‘Manufacturers must put consumer safety first and 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. This once again shows that the UK’s product safety regime is simply not fit-for-purpose and the Government can no longer continue to allow it to fail.’
The manufacturers’ trade body, AMDEA, said: ‘All fridge freezers sold in the UK must comply with the current, globally agreed safety standards and manufacturers constantly scrutinise their products.’