Do you find that when you discover non-compliant or dangerous electrical products you don’t know who to report them to?
In a major survey of installers conducted in October 2015, nearly 60% of respondents encounter non-compliant electrical products but don’t actually report them.
The reasons respondents gave for not reporting non-compliant products were as follows:
- Nearly half (45%) of the 60% who found non-compliant products said that the reason they didn’t report them was because they didn’t know who to report them to.
- 53% said they caused an inconvenience
Farther more 25% said that the electrical products encountered caused a direct safety risk to customers and 45% of electrical installers are unsure whether they have the necessary knowledge to identify counterfeit electrical goods.
Nearly all respondents (95%) said that they would like to receive more guidance on how to identify counterfeit/non-compliant electrical products.
Counterfeit electrical goods like fake or non-compliant phone chargers have become wide-spread perhaps due to the high price the manufacturers charge for the real thing.
Electrical safety first have some great advice for consumers, who are often left in the dark on these subjects.
The Response
Frank Bertie (NAPIT Group Technical Director and Trade Association Chairman) said:
“When we heard the serious concerns one of our members and saw those concerns directly reflected in the experiences of hundreds of installers through our electrical products survey, the need to tackle the problem became clear.”
As a response to the survey NAPIT have created a new Defective, Suspicious or Counterfeit Products Reporting Form in cooperation with BEAMA, a trade association which represents manufacturers of electrical infrastructure products, and the Electrotechnical Market Surveillance Group (EMS).
NAPIT say that the new form will allow their members to draw attention to potentially dangerous electrical products and pass that information on to EMS member organisations, who conduct their own product testing using independent labs to build cases of miss-selling.
They will work with Trading Standards and/or the Health & Safety Executive to get dangerous products removed from the shelves.
Alongside this NAPIT are working with other trade organisations to support the “Does it comply” initiative. This is designed to increase awareness of the dangers of substandard electrical products.
You can visit the “Does it comply” website
Here.
About NAPIT
Formed in 1992, NAPIT is one of the leading Government approved and United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) accredited membership scheme operators in the building services and fabric sector.
There are currently more than 10,000 NAPIT registered installers in the electrical, heating, plumbing, ventilation, microgeneration and building fabric trades across the UK domestic, commercial and industrial markets.
Visit NAPIT's website
Become a member – Become a Domestic Electrical Installer or a Domestic Gas Installer
To become a member of a competent person’s scheme like NAPIT you need the right qualifications. Logic4training provides great entry level courses for new entrants to both the gas and electrical industry.
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