EEESafe invited to speak to Chief Fire Officers Association

We’re pleased to announce that we have been invited by the CFOA, (Chief Fire Officers Association) to share the EEESafe Standard and its benefits to consumers.

We are attending this week, the Quarterly Regional Meeting for Senior Fire Chief Officers for the UK, where we have the opportunity to outline why our White Goods Repair Standard, Competent Persons Card Scheme, Our Appliance Safety Register and Certified Training in White Goods repair is the Gold Standard for Safety when it comes to Appliance Repair and Refurbishment.

As our followers and supporters will no doubt be aware, we cannot trust the Manufacturers alone as to the safety of Appliances in the home, as history shows they have been apathetic in their response to potential product recalls, sometimes resulting in fatalities in homes around the UK.

We’re calling for our standard to be put into law for Registered Social Landlords.  There is no other standard that requires Appliance Refurbishers and Repairers to record safety readings when conducting a repair, or bringing an appliance back from potentially becoming a waste item.

Earlier last year, the CFOA recorded it’s view on Product Recalls and whilst we support the work of Electrical Safety First, we also need all stakeholders to recognise that an Electrician is not required to have Appliance Repair knowledge for their qualification.  We have pointed the need for recognised knowledge and standards for consumers, when it comes to having an Appliance repaired through this article at www.eeesafe.com/pat1

Earlier last year, the CFOA echoed the sentiment that we at EEESafe recorded at the UK Government’ call for a review on Product Recalls.  We are able to intercept Fire Risks on the Second hand market as well as giving consumers protection from Rogue Repairers by using EEESafe Registered Repairers.

See hear what the CFOA stated earlier on in 2014.

One area where fire and rescue services are seeing significant activity is the number of electrical fires that are occurring in the home. In 2013/14, there were 22,962 electrical fires of which 4,989 (21.7%) was due to ‘faulty appliances and leads’. Electrical fires occur for various reasons including poor wiring, poor DIY, over heating at the service cut out fuse or electrical intake or more commonly defective electrical goods. You will have seen over the years some very high profile and tragic fatal incidents which have been caused by electrical fires starting in what has traditionally been called the ‘white goods’ such as fridge freezers, washing machines, tumble driers, dishwashers etc. Electrical fires attended by fire and rescue services vary greatly. As well as the larger traditional ‘white goods’ we regularly attend smaller electrical items such as hair straighteners, hairdryers, chargers, kettles, televisions and microwave ovens. Fire and rescue services attend these incidents on a regular basis. It isn’t always known whether the electrical goods that caused a fire were subject to a product recall but we have certainly seen incidents where this has been the case, and are in no doubt this is greatly under reported due to the current inadequacies of any product recall system. Ineffective product recalls which have failed to reach the public or been insufficiently acted upon will undoubtedly have led to unnecessary damage, injury and even death.

We welcome the support and promotion of CFOA in our work and hope that this will help consumers recognise a safe brand that tackles poverty and society at the same time as ensuring safety in the home.