Hotpoint UK Appliances Ltd
Action Planned
Hotpoint states it will support the LFB/AMDEA initiative of digital identification and comply with any future industry-wide regulatory requirements. It will also work with government policy makers, regulators, fire services, manufacturers and other stakeholders to continue to raise the bar for appliance product safety in the UK. (AI summary)
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Hotpoint UK Appliances Ltd. Morley Way Peterborough PE2 9JB Registered in London 106725 VAT No 513936740 HOTPOINT UK APPLIANCES LIMITED’S RESPONSE TO REGULATION 28 REPORT TO PREVENT FUTURE DEATHS DATED 6 DECEMBER 2024 This is the response of Hotpoint UK Appliances Limited (Hotpoint) to the Regulation28Reportto Prevent Future Deaths arising out of the Inquest into the deaths of Champaguri Bhatt and Dipak Bhatt. BeforeweaddresstheAssistantCoroner’sreportwewouldliketoexpressourdeepestcondolences to the Bhatt family and anyone affected by this tragedy. The matters of concern raised by the Assistant Coroner relate to industry-wide challenges. The response to those concerns should be considered in light ofthebroaderregulatoryframeworkthat underpins product safety in the UK together with an ongoing revision by the Government. Current Product Safety Legal Framework The UK hasacomprehensiveframeworkoflawscoveringproductsafety,derivedprimarilyfromEU law.TheoverarchinglegislationistheGeneralProductSafetyRegulation2005(“GPSR”),whichsets outgeneralsafetyrulesthatapplytoallproductsunlessthoseproductsaresubjecttosectorspecific legislation. In the case of electrical appliances, the applicable sector-specific legislation is the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulation 2016 (“EESR”). These product safety laws set out objectives and rules governing the safety of products. The underlyingtechnicalrulesthatensuretheseobjectivesaremetarecontainedintechnicalstandards. Designated Standards1 are technical standards, often based on international standards, that are officiallyrecognisedbytheGovernment.Thestandardssetoutaseriesoftechnicalrequirementsthat mustbemetinorderfortheproducttobedeclaredcompliant.Thesafetyofaproductthatcomplies with a technical standard is presumed. Designated Standards are written by a committee of technical experts including manufacturers, independentaccreditedtesthouses,enforcementauthoritiesandothersand,intheUK,publishedby the British Standards Institute. They are often subject to revision as newrisksarediscoveredover time.Thatprocessensuresthatthoroughtestingcanbeconductedbyindependenttechnicalexperts to determine whether any risk exists, and ifso,whetheritisappropriateinallthecircumstancesto revise the technical standards to address that risk. Additionally, the Governmentisabletodevelop additionalstandardswheretheyfeelappropriateandthereareexamplesinrecenttimeswhereOPSS has done exactly that. Weviewmeetingthestandardsastheminimumlevelofsafety. Inadditiontomeetingthestandards, we do additional testing to ensure, as much as is possible, that a product is safe. That includes putting faults on products and assessing the consequences. This is known as Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA). Theproductsafetyframeworkcontainschecksandbalancestoensurethatnewandemergingsafety risks are discovered and addressed. In particular, there are specific obligations placed on industry to: 1Called Harmonised Standards in the European Union.
● monitor and investigate safety risks; ● take corrective action (e.g. recalls) to address non-conformities; and ● report safety risks to Trading Standards If the UK authorities are investigating a safety issue, they can make an initial request for relevant informationtobesharedwillingly.Intheeventofarefusal,theyhavetools,includingRegulation28of theGPSR,torequirecompaniestoprovideinformationinrelationtoproductsafetyissues.Afailureto comply is a criminal offence. Upcoming Changes to Product Safety Legal Framework ThelegalframeworkintheUKislikelytobeupdatedthisyear.TheProductRegulationandMetrology Bill(the“Bill”)iscurrentlybeingdebatedintheHouseofLords.TheBillisintendedtobeanenabling Act with detailed regulations passed after it has been enacted, so theprecisescopeisnotknown. However,followingaconsultationbytheOfficeforProductSafetyandStandards(“OPSS”)inOctober 2023,2 itisclearthattheGovernmentisconsideringissuesrelevanttoanumberofthemattersraised by the Assistant Coroner. In particular: ● Proposal8:Facilitatearichsourceofdata,bycreatinganewlegaldatagateway–thiswould enable the Government to request that product safety data is shared by industry with the authorities, including the OPSS and Trading Standards. ● Proposal9:Allnotificationofrecallsandseriousproductsafetyincidentsandothercorrective action by a manufacturer or distributor is sent to OPSS, rather than the local authority, as soonastheeconomicoperatorhasknowledgeofanunsafeproduct–thiswouldstreamline the report of product safety incidents to the OPSS. These proposals have been subject to feedback from multiple stakeholders. In its response to the Consultation,3OPSS noted that: ● e. Better use of data: capturing high-quality product safety data in a central repository to identify product safety risks and allow targeted intervention and establishing a legal data gateway that integrates existing systems and allows sharing of intelligence e.g. between market surveillance authorities, to aid compliance and enforcement – over two thirds of responses were supportive, however, businesses suggested caution around how the data would be shared given the need to consider confidentiality. Matters of Concern (1) Thatingressofmoistureintocondensatepumpsmayresultintrackingfaultscausing resistive heating and fire 3 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/smarter-regulation-uk-product-safety-review/outcome/go vernment-response-to-the-product-safety-review-and-next-steps#appendix-b-summary-of-responses-t o-the-product-safety-review 2 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ca51246ae44e001311b3e7/uk-product-safety-review -consultation-august-2023.pdf 2
Manufacturershaveanobligationtoonlyplaceproductsonthemarketthataresafe. Theymust ensure the products have been designed and manufactured in line with established safety objectives. Many manufacturers (includingHotpoint),demonstratethosesafetyobjectiveshave been met by testing their products against relevant safety standards as described above. Inadditiontotestingallourproductstotheappropriateindustrysafetystandards,alltheresultsof those tests are checked and approved by an independent accredited test facility. Onceaproductisplacedonthemarket,wearerequiredtomonitorthefieldtoidentifyanysafety relatedincidentsthatwillsubsequentlyfeedintoriskassessments. Wehavearobustprocessin placefordoingthis. HavinginterrogatedourdatafollowingthetragicdeathsofChampaguriBhatt and Dipak Bhatt, we cannot find any evidence of safety issues with the ingress of water into condensatepumpsinourproducts. However,thatdoesnotexcludethepossibilityoftherebeing a wider industry issue, and, if stakeholders involved in setting standards agree that there is a requirement to focus on potential risk with condensate pumps, we will of course actively participate in that process. (2) That changes in information management wouldresultinbetteranalysisof,andlearning from, white goods fires As outlined below, we regularly engage with other stakeholders to discuss how systems and processes can be changed to improve consumer safety. (3)ManufacturerstogivetheOPSSastheregulatorandLondonFireBrigade(LFB)tosupport their fire prevention workdataonpartsreplacedonwarrantyforcondensatepumpsandRFI filters (5) Manufacturers to share data on decisions and rationale behind recall / replacement of condensate pumps and RFI filters OPSS as the regulator and LFB to support their fire prevention work (6)CompaniesinvestigatingfirestonotifyTradingStandardsandtheOPSSoftheoutcomeof those investigations Thesemattersofconcernallrelatetothecollectionandsharingofinformationaroundproductsafety risks and incidents. Asnotedabove,theproductsafetylegalframeworkplacesresponsibilityonmanufacturersandother actors in the supply chain to monitor and investigate safety issues and report safety risks. The UK authorities have investigatory tools, including Regulation 28 of the GPSR, to require companies to provide information in relation to product safety issues where the information is not givenwillingly.Afailuretocomplyisacriminaloffence.Thatistheproperrouteforauthoritiesthatare minded to require manufacturers to disclose sensitive company information. We note that data sharing is within the scope of the Government’s ongoing product safetyreview, although the scope is not as broad as the matters recommended to the Assistant Coroner by the LFB. Hotpoint is a member of AMDEA, the white goods trade association, and actively participates in industrymeetings,includingonsafetyandstandards. WeregularlyengagewiththeLFB,OPSSand NGOssuchasElectricalSafetyFirst,boththroughindustrymeetingsanddirectly,toexplorehowall 3
stakeholderscanworktogetherwiththeaimofimprovingsafety. Wearealsoactivelyinvolvedwith BSI and European International Standards bodies in the development of safety and performance standards. We fully support the development of systems to improve productsafety,includingdata sharing and information management that can be adopted cross industry and supported by all stakeholders. (4)WorkinggroupCPL/61lookatstandardsofmanufactureofmainsandsubmainsoperated condensate pumps and RFI filters Hotpoint welcomes the role of standards bodies such as the British Standards Institute in the continuing improvement of safety standards. Hotpoint is an active participant in standards development,withitsrepresentativessittingontechnicalcommitteesonarangeofstandards,andis very supportive of all efforts to improve product safety where new and emerging risks have been discovered. (7)ManufacturerstoberequiredtousetheOPSSriskassessmentmethodology,PRISM,when conductingriskassessmentstoaccountforpersonsinapropertyandtheiractions,i.e.while sleeping whilst a product is taking advantage of lower electricity rates Manufacturers are already required to demonstrate that their appliances are safe, and, if it is subsequently found they are not safe, to risk assess to determine the level of risk. PRISMwasnotdevelopedwiththeintentionthatitwouldbeusedtoassessthesafetyofthedesign ofaproductpriortomanufacture.ItisamethodologydevelopedfromtheEU’sRAPEXmethodology fortheassessmentofunexpectedrisksthatmayoccurinproductsthatarealreadyonthemarket.In the OPSS’ guidance on PRISM, it states: “As noted above, this guidance is intended for use by marketsurveillanceofficers.Itisnotintendedtobeusedbybusinesseswhenundertakingpre-market risk assessment as part of the process of assessing the conformity of their products to relevant essential requirements or when considering the general safety requirement contained within the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR).”4 That being said, there are elements of PRISM that can be applied usefully to a pre-market risk assessment process. For example, it is already common for foreseeable risks associated with sleeping to be taken into account when assessing the risks of electrical products that operate at night. (8) Identification plates on appliances that will not be destroyed by fire akin to those on vehicles We know that indelible marking is under consideration by the CPL / 61 Standards committee5. The committee has formed a working group to look at this issue, and as a company, we are members and actively involved in that working group. On 8 January 2024, the LFB wrote to the Senior Coroner. At point 6, the LFB refers to working with AMDEA on a means of identifying fire damaged white goods via the sharing of digital images between 5The CPL / 61 Standards Committee is a committee headed by BSI, which considers UK input to the international standard on household and similar electrical appliances, including tumble dryers. 4Section 1.2 of Guide for GB Market Surveillance Authorities and Enforcing Authorities Responsible for Regulating Consumer Product Safety, version 2.0, October 2024 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66fd385ae84ae1fd8592ec93/prism-guidance-v02.pdf) 4
appliance manufacturers and FRS. The LFB notes thatif it does not show clear evidence of sustainable success, then the LFB would recommend an indelible marking scheme. Our understanding from AMDEA is that the trial is working well and is being rolled out to other Fire Services (outside the LFB). Additionally, indelible marking is only a benefit from the day it’s implemented, it does not help with the identification of any products produced before that date and already in the market. The AMDEA trial does address this challenge. As this issue is an industry-wide issue with national ramifications, any change would need to be implemented through updates to standards or regulation. We will obviously continue to support theLFB/AMDEA initiative of digital identification andcomplywithanyfutureindustrywideregulatory requirements. Hotpoint willworkwithgovernmentpolicymakers,regulators,fireservices,manufacturersandother stakeholderstoensurethatwecontinuetoraisethebarforapplianceproductsafetyintheUK. We are always available to discuss relevant topics at your disposal. Your Sincerely, Managing Director 5
● monitor and investigate safety risks; ● take corrective action (e.g. recalls) to address non-conformities; and ● report safety risks to Trading Standards If the UK authorities are investigating a safety issue, they can make an initial request for relevant informationtobesharedwillingly.Intheeventofarefusal,theyhavetools,includingRegulation28of theGPSR,torequirecompaniestoprovideinformationinrelationtoproductsafetyissues.Afailureto comply is a criminal offence. Upcoming Changes to Product Safety Legal Framework ThelegalframeworkintheUKislikelytobeupdatedthisyear.TheProductRegulationandMetrology Bill(the“Bill”)iscurrentlybeingdebatedintheHouseofLords.TheBillisintendedtobeanenabling Act with detailed regulations passed after it has been enacted, so theprecisescopeisnotknown. However,followingaconsultationbytheOfficeforProductSafetyandStandards(“OPSS”)inOctober 2023,2 itisclearthattheGovernmentisconsideringissuesrelevanttoanumberofthemattersraised by the Assistant Coroner. In particular: ● Proposal8:Facilitatearichsourceofdata,bycreatinganewlegaldatagateway–thiswould enable the Government to request that product safety data is shared by industry with the authorities, including the OPSS and Trading Standards. ● Proposal9:Allnotificationofrecallsandseriousproductsafetyincidentsandothercorrective action by a manufacturer or distributor is sent to OPSS, rather than the local authority, as soonastheeconomicoperatorhasknowledgeofanunsafeproduct–thiswouldstreamline the report of product safety incidents to the OPSS. These proposals have been subject to feedback from multiple stakeholders. In its response to the Consultation,3OPSS noted that: ● e. Better use of data: capturing high-quality product safety data in a central repository to identify product safety risks and allow targeted intervention and establishing a legal data gateway that integrates existing systems and allows sharing of intelligence e.g. between market surveillance authorities, to aid compliance and enforcement – over two thirds of responses were supportive, however, businesses suggested caution around how the data would be shared given the need to consider confidentiality. Matters of Concern (1) Thatingressofmoistureintocondensatepumpsmayresultintrackingfaultscausing resistive heating and fire 3 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/smarter-regulation-uk-product-safety-review/outcome/go vernment-response-to-the-product-safety-review-and-next-steps#appendix-b-summary-of-responses-t o-the-product-safety-review 2 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ca51246ae44e001311b3e7/uk-product-safety-review -consultation-august-2023.pdf 2
Manufacturershaveanobligationtoonlyplaceproductsonthemarketthataresafe. Theymust ensure the products have been designed and manufactured in line with established safety objectives. Many manufacturers (includingHotpoint),demonstratethosesafetyobjectiveshave been met by testing their products against relevant safety standards as described above. Inadditiontotestingallourproductstotheappropriateindustrysafetystandards,alltheresultsof those tests are checked and approved by an independent accredited test facility. Onceaproductisplacedonthemarket,wearerequiredtomonitorthefieldtoidentifyanysafety relatedincidentsthatwillsubsequentlyfeedintoriskassessments. Wehavearobustprocessin placefordoingthis. HavinginterrogatedourdatafollowingthetragicdeathsofChampaguriBhatt and Dipak Bhatt, we cannot find any evidence of safety issues with the ingress of water into condensatepumpsinourproducts. However,thatdoesnotexcludethepossibilityoftherebeing a wider industry issue, and, if stakeholders involved in setting standards agree that there is a requirement to focus on potential risk with condensate pumps, we will of course actively participate in that process. (2) That changes in information management wouldresultinbetteranalysisof,andlearning from, white goods fires As outlined below, we regularly engage with other stakeholders to discuss how systems and processes can be changed to improve consumer safety. (3)ManufacturerstogivetheOPSSastheregulatorandLondonFireBrigade(LFB)tosupport their fire prevention workdataonpartsreplacedonwarrantyforcondensatepumpsandRFI filters (5) Manufacturers to share data on decisions and rationale behind recall / replacement of condensate pumps and RFI filters OPSS as the regulator and LFB to support their fire prevention work (6)CompaniesinvestigatingfirestonotifyTradingStandardsandtheOPSSoftheoutcomeof those investigations Thesemattersofconcernallrelatetothecollectionandsharingofinformationaroundproductsafety risks and incidents. Asnotedabove,theproductsafetylegalframeworkplacesresponsibilityonmanufacturersandother actors in the supply chain to monitor and investigate safety issues and report safety risks. The UK authorities have investigatory tools, including Regulation 28 of the GPSR, to require companies to provide information in relation to product safety issues where the information is not givenwillingly.Afailuretocomplyisacriminaloffence.Thatistheproperrouteforauthoritiesthatare minded to require manufacturers to disclose sensitive company information. We note that data sharing is within the scope of the Government’s ongoing product safetyreview, although the scope is not as broad as the matters recommended to the Assistant Coroner by the LFB. Hotpoint is a member of AMDEA, the white goods trade association, and actively participates in industrymeetings,includingonsafetyandstandards. WeregularlyengagewiththeLFB,OPSSand NGOssuchasElectricalSafetyFirst,boththroughindustrymeetingsanddirectly,toexplorehowall 3
stakeholderscanworktogetherwiththeaimofimprovingsafety. Wearealsoactivelyinvolvedwith BSI and European International Standards bodies in the development of safety and performance standards. We fully support the development of systems to improve productsafety,includingdata sharing and information management that can be adopted cross industry and supported by all stakeholders. (4)WorkinggroupCPL/61lookatstandardsofmanufactureofmainsandsubmainsoperated condensate pumps and RFI filters Hotpoint welcomes the role of standards bodies such as the British Standards Institute in the continuing improvement of safety standards. Hotpoint is an active participant in standards development,withitsrepresentativessittingontechnicalcommitteesonarangeofstandards,andis very supportive of all efforts to improve product safety where new and emerging risks have been discovered. (7)ManufacturerstoberequiredtousetheOPSSriskassessmentmethodology,PRISM,when conductingriskassessmentstoaccountforpersonsinapropertyandtheiractions,i.e.while sleeping whilst a product is taking advantage of lower electricity rates Manufacturers are already required to demonstrate that their appliances are safe, and, if it is subsequently found they are not safe, to risk assess to determine the level of risk. PRISMwasnotdevelopedwiththeintentionthatitwouldbeusedtoassessthesafetyofthedesign ofaproductpriortomanufacture.ItisamethodologydevelopedfromtheEU’sRAPEXmethodology fortheassessmentofunexpectedrisksthatmayoccurinproductsthatarealreadyonthemarket.In the OPSS’ guidance on PRISM, it states: “As noted above, this guidance is intended for use by marketsurveillanceofficers.Itisnotintendedtobeusedbybusinesseswhenundertakingpre-market risk assessment as part of the process of assessing the conformity of their products to relevant essential requirements or when considering the general safety requirement contained within the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR).”4 That being said, there are elements of PRISM that can be applied usefully to a pre-market risk assessment process. For example, it is already common for foreseeable risks associated with sleeping to be taken into account when assessing the risks of electrical products that operate at night. (8) Identification plates on appliances that will not be destroyed by fire akin to those on vehicles We know that indelible marking is under consideration by the CPL / 61 Standards committee5. The committee has formed a working group to look at this issue, and as a company, we are members and actively involved in that working group. On 8 January 2024, the LFB wrote to the Senior Coroner. At point 6, the LFB refers to working with AMDEA on a means of identifying fire damaged white goods via the sharing of digital images between 5The CPL / 61 Standards Committee is a committee headed by BSI, which considers UK input to the international standard on household and similar electrical appliances, including tumble dryers. 4Section 1.2 of Guide for GB Market Surveillance Authorities and Enforcing Authorities Responsible for Regulating Consumer Product Safety, version 2.0, October 2024 (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66fd385ae84ae1fd8592ec93/prism-guidance-v02.pdf) 4
appliance manufacturers and FRS. The LFB notes thatif it does not show clear evidence of sustainable success, then the LFB would recommend an indelible marking scheme. Our understanding from AMDEA is that the trial is working well and is being rolled out to other Fire Services (outside the LFB). Additionally, indelible marking is only a benefit from the day it’s implemented, it does not help with the identification of any products produced before that date and already in the market. The AMDEA trial does address this challenge. As this issue is an industry-wide issue with national ramifications, any change would need to be implemented through updates to standards or regulation. We will obviously continue to support theLFB/AMDEA initiative of digital identification andcomplywithanyfutureindustrywideregulatory requirements. Hotpoint willworkwithgovernmentpolicymakers,regulators,fireservices,manufacturersandother stakeholderstoensurethatwecontinuetoraisethebarforapplianceproductsafetyintheUK. We are always available to discuss relevant topics at your disposal. Your Sincerely, Managing Director 5