Trading Standards issue tips for tumble drier safety
Firstly they are urging people to check the make and model of their appliances. The ones affected are Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda which have acquired by Whirlpool.
They are then encouraging people to follow safety instructions given by the manufacturers which include:
- don’t leave a tumble drier unattended
- don’t leave it on overnight
- make sure your home has working smoke detectors
- regularly clean the appliance’s fluff filter
Trading Standards Operations Manager Jody Kerman said:” “We want people in Oxfordshire consumers to be aware of the risks posed by these appliances. People may have bought their tumble drier second hand, not registered it, moved house, rented a furnished property and so on so they may not have been contacted directly by the manufacturer.
“It is important that if someone has a tumble drier from one of the above manufacturers that they visit Indesit’s website/YouTube where there are instruction handbooks and videos to show how to clean the fluff filter. There are also instructions about how to check if a model is one of those affected and details on what to do next.
“We obviously encourage the companies involved to work as quickly as possible to resolve this fully for consumers.
“According to their safety notice, the company involved have conducted a risk assessment, under General Product Safety Regulations, which classified the risk as ‘Very Low’ risk. Their current preventative action is to reduce the risk to ‘Extremely low’.
“Some goods will always pose a level of risk but product safety risks must be reduced to a minimum and this can be achieved through information and instructions to users. Ultimately, it is a matter for the courts to assess if the risks have been minimised to the extent that goods can be described as safe. We are not aware of any criminal action being taken on this matter.
Hotpoint Safety Notice: http://www.hotpointservice.co.uk/safety-notices/
Indesit YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nejqk2Dw9xo
Indesit/Hotpoint Helpline: 03448 224 224
For further consumer advice (Citizens Advice National Consumer Service): 03454 04 05 06