Latest News

Hawkesworth News
02/06/2012 - 13:46
PAT and counterfeit electrical appliances

As well as its vital role in preventing workplace injuries and fires, portable appliance inspection and testing is also one of the main ways in which dangerous counterfeit electrical equipment is identified.

At last year’s ESC Product Safety Conference, BEAMA summarised the problems related to the infiltration of traditional supply chains by counterfeit electrical equipment that had not been subject to normal compliance testing and certification.

  • Approx £30 million of counterfeit electrical products entered the UK market in 2010
  • Counterfeit electrical products include everything from domestic appliances, to cables and leads, lighting products, power tools and wiring accessories
  • 12.9 million counterfeit products have been seized and destroyed in the last 10 years

By carrying out the scheduled testing of all workplace electrical equipment and identifying common faults, PAT programmes have helped to uncover the presence of counterfeit goods that has entered conventional appliance supply chains.
Hawkesworth News
01/05/2012 - 17:05
PATs and fire prevention

Two recent pieces of news further underlined the role of portable appliance testing and its role in fire prevention.

The latest annual Fire Statistics Great Britain, 2010/2011 further reinforced the role of faulty appliances and leads as the main cause of accidental fires in other buildings (non dwellings).
The report showed that, In 20010/11, faulty appliances and leads were the cause of 4,400 accidental fires in non-residential buildings, a figure that represents 25% of all such fires.

Over the period 2000 and 2011 (excluding 2010 for which no breakdown is available), each year faulty appliances and leads were identified as the cause of between 25% and 32% of accidental fires in non dwelling type buildings

To help overcome such problems in domestic premises, the Electrical Safety Council (ESC) has recently run a workshop on electrical fire safety for the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS). The London-based event attracted 38 delegates from 25 FRS – representing over half of the entire FRS in England – with officials from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) ‘Fire Kills’ campaign also in attendance.

Phil Buckle, Director General of the ESC, said: “The FRS undertake a range of fire prevention activities, often with the focus on the vulnerable groups – such as pensioners, children and people on low income – who are also our priority audiences.

“By enabling the Fire and Rescue Services to extend their understanding of electrical fires, we help them develop key electrical safety messages to communicate to householders and, hopefully, improve the accuracy of fire reporting. This in turn will enhance statistical data on electrical-related fires and assist us in determining how best to reduce them.”
Hawkesworth News
12/01/2011 - 13:06
Product safety conference highlights appliance dangers

The Electrical Safety Council’s recent Product Safety Conference brought together a wide range of speakers and delegates to discuss the latest developments in market surveillance and electrical product safety.

The programme covered a range of key issues, including a review of the UK’s surveillance priorities and a look at how collaborative working between manufacturers and government agencies is increasing seizures of unsafe and counterfeit goods.

Many of the presentations highlighted the dangers posed by unsafe electrical appliances and some of the key messages included in presentations included:

- London Fire Brigade reported that 891 fires caused by large domestic appliances in the period 2008-2011.
- 10% of world trade is now represented by counterfeit products, with approx £30 million of counterfeit electrical goods entering the UK market in 2010.
- Appliance testing by the trading standards office of one UK county council reported that 26% were non-compliant and 45% were unsafe.
- Statistics from Essex Fire and Rescue showed that from 2006-2008, there were 438 primary fires as a result of faulty electrical appliances, These caused 75 casualties.
- A safety campaign in care homes in the south of England revealed that 5.8% of the electrical items tested were found to be faulty.
Hawkesworth News
11/03/2011 - 12:13
Electrical Safety Facts & Figures

The dangers posed by electricity and dangerous appliances in workplaces are widely recognised.

The HSE claims that nearly 25% of all reportable electrical accidents involve portable and transportable electrical equipment and recently issued the latest provisional figures on injuries involving contact with electricity as reported to the enforcing authorities via the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).

In 2009/10 the HSE reports that there were three employee (2008/09 – 4) fatalities and six fatalities (2008/09 – 8) involving members of the public.

Non fatal major injuries to employees during 2009/10 totalled 75 compared to 93 in the previous year. Over three day injuries caused by contact with electricity also fell to 281 from 320 over the same period. Non fatal injuries among members of the public were recorded as 51 ( 2008/9 – 71).

Of course alongside the HSE injury figures, the full extent of the dangers associated with unsafe electric appliances and equipment can also be gauged from the fire statistics.

In 2008, the latest year for which full 12 month figures are available, there were 27,500 fires recorded in buildings other than dwellings, 11 per cent fewer than in 2007. Of these, around 60 per cent were accidental, and as in previous years, the main cause was faulty appliances and leads. In 2008 this problem was responsible for 6,000 fires - or 34% of the total.

Overall, it was reported that fires in non-residential buildings caused the deaths of 21and injuries to 1,200 people.

More details: www.hse.gov.uk and www.communities.gov.uk
Hawkesworth News
11/03/2011 - 12:08
ESC Fridge Freezer Alert

The Electrical Safety Council (ESC) is urging safety checks to be carried out on fridge freezers, following a devastating fire in North London which took the lives of a mother and her five children.

Initial investigations suggest that the fire was started by a fridge freezer, which was located in the hallway of the house in Neasden, North London. According to government figures there are more than 20 thousand electrical fires in UK homes each year – the majority of them caused by electrical appliances.

“We want to express our deepest sympathy to the family”, says Martyn Allen, Head of Technical Development at the ESC. “And we want to ensure that people are aware of electrical safety issues, to help prevent another tragedy of this nature.”

The ESC has put together a safety check-list for fridge freezers that includes some basic electrical advice.

More details at: www.esc.org.uk

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James Ostler MD, National Britannia Group (Safecontractor)

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