Electrical Safety First

At a recent parliamentary event, hosted by the charity, Electrical Safety First, I found out that electricity causes around half of all domestic fires in the UK, with most of them arising from electrical products. I was introduced to the ‘Register my Appliance’ campaign and learned that by registering an electrical appliance, manufacturers and retailers can easily trace and contact consumers to recall a dangerous, substandard, or faulty, item.

There have been 518 recall notices issued for electrical products but only 10-20% of faulty goods are ever returned or repaired, which means there are potentially thousands of unsafe appliances still in use in our homes. Yet only 24% of people always register their electrical goods.

I strongly support Electrical Safety First’s campaign to get more people to register their electrical goods and would encourage people to take a few simple steps to protect themselves and their families. This includes always buying from a reputable dealer or manufacturer, following the instructions supplied with the product and remembering to register their appliance so they can be contacted if there is a problem.

To see if an electrical appliance you own has been recalled, visit: electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk/recall
To register an appliance, visit: www.registermyappliance.org.uk/