HEALTH & SAFETY
FIGHTING COUNTERFEIT ELECTRICALS
Lucy Davison is Technical and Compliance Manager at Hawkesworth
Appliance Testing Ltd. Here, she explains the importance of testing and how to look out for dodgy devices.
Counterfeit electrical goods are a growing problem across the UK, posing a significant challenge for facilities managers, landlords, retailers and public sector premises - in fact any organisation or business that is responsible for the safety of buildings, employees and visitors.
According to a report into fake products by the European Parliament, more than five million counterfeit goods had been seized by customs authorities during 2015, a worrying increase of 15% over the previous year. In addition, more than a quarter of these were electrical goods, the majority of them from China.
Take iPhone chargers. These can be made in China for as little as 3p and bought on the internet for less than £1. As different devices require different levels of charge, using a generic charger risks putting too
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much energy into a device, which in turn can cause the battery to overheat. Branded – or “original equipment” - chargers, being designed specifically for each device, pose a much lower risk.
So, what measures can be taken to combat the potentially lethal threat to people and businesses from fake electrical appliances? There are a number of precautions facilities managers can take, such as only purchasing from reputable suppliers, checking the packaging and labelling: has the package been tampered with, is all the regulatory information present and are there any misspellings, which can be a real giveaway. Even the feel of an item or the extension cord might raise your suspicions. An obvious clue to look for is a kitemark: its absence should be cause for alarm, likewise
if it could be a poor imitation of a genuine mark.
Educating and training your staff on how to spot counterfeit products and false packaging is advisable. In addition, regular and efficient Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) can weed out the faulty electrical appliances if they have already infiltrated a business. Domestically, criminals are targeting electrical goods - from household appliances to high-end handheld devices - with items sold from very convincing websites and even using seemingly authentic packaging and conformity marking. Yet many of these fakes can lack even the most basic of safety features that purchasers take for granted.
They may look like the real deal but fake goods are particularly risky as they often contain faulty parts,
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