Manufacturer Fine Proposals

The Electrical Safety Council, ESC, has called for manufacturers to be given fines if they are slow or badly manage product recalls.

This has been suggested as a solution to increasing concern over the effectiveness of current recall systems and a number of serious incidents involving the public and recalled products.

Currently, manufacturers who don’t take action, which is considered to be appropriate, for the recall of products are fined £5,000. ESC is calling for harsher fines and penalties for manufacturers and has suggested a system of fines which are based on a percentage of profits from the recalled product.

ESC is saying that a system such as this would ensure that manufacturers respond to recalls much more effectively and faster. They have also suggested that Trading Standards should highlight clear guidelines on manufacturers requirements in these situations.

Research says that of all recalls only10-20% of products are actually traced, which means that millions of people are using products daily which could potentially be dangerous and put them at risk of fire or electrocution.

What’s your opinion of these proposed changes, do you think manufacturers should be made to take product recalls more seriously and deal with them in a more efficient way?

Written by Sara Thomson