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Unsafe electrical goods

Updated: 02 Nov 2007
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Introduction

A cheap, unsafe electrical appliance could kill you. Is the price worth paying?

We're a trading nation. That means all manner of goods come and go over our borders. And coming over our borders recently have been some illegal and unsafe electrical goods.

Our investigations reveal that, despite a recent crackdown by Energy Safety, unsafe electrical goods are still available, particularly on online auction sites such as Trade Me.

What's the problem?

Energy Safety, part of the Ministry of Economic Development, is responsible for overseeing the extensive safety rules for electrical and gas products.

Energy Safety carries out regular audits of retailers and suppliers to check whether the goods they're selling are compliant.

It recently conducted an audit in Auckland. A small number of problems are generally identified during these audits, but at some low-price retail outlets it uncovered some alarming examples of illegal electrical goods - such as touch-lamps, travel adaptors, festive lamps, and hot-melt glue guns.

From all the audits done up till when we went to press, 80 percent of items were found to have non-compliant documentation, and 19 percent of audited products were considered to be electrically unsafe by Energy Safety.

Most of these non-compliant and unsafe products were located at low-price retailers or their suppliers. In many cases the non-compliant products were originally not intended for our market. This was because they were fitted with foreign plugs or incorrectly rated at 220 volts and not the 230 volts used here.

We took a look around too ...

What we found

We looked in five low-cost stores around Wellington and we bought this hot-melt glue gun (pictured right) at one retailer, and an identical looking example from Trade Me.

The packaging is marked as 110-220 volts, which probably means that the product is unsuitable for New Zealand. There are also no safety markings on the gun. The metal pins of the plug are not insulated for half their length and there is no double-insulation symbol marked as there must be for a non-earthed appliance.

When we dismantled the gun, there was only one type of insulation between the electrically live parts and the metal nozzle. The gun was not double insulated as required.

We found this glue gun listed on a European Union website with "withdrawal from the market ordered by the authority" because it "poses a serious risk of electric shock".

When we went back to the shop to get another one, they had disappeared from the shelves, and a check of four other low-price shops revealed nothing that appeared illegal.

But Trade Me was a different story: we bought the same type of glue gun, a hair drier, hair straightener, a finger nail lacquer setting device, and two novelty lamps - all of which were fitted with illegal plugs, and four of them were only rated at 220 volts.

These examples confirm that unsafe appliances are being sold. So what's being done about it?

Electrical police

We have an extensive set of electrical safety Acts and regulations, administered by Energy Safety. But how does that apply to retail products? That depends on the type of product.

The underlying principle is all electrical goods must comply with Australian and New Zealand safety standards, or their equivalents. The suppliers of products deemed to have a medium- or high-safety risk are required to complete a "Supplier Declaration of Compliance" (SDoC) before the product is sold. This documentation is audited by Energy Safety.

Our hot-melt glue gun doesn't fall under the medium- or high-risk category, so it can be imported and sold without any safety documentation. But, by law, it still must be safe.

Energy Safety has a range of measures to deal with suppliers and retailers that sell unsafe goods - ranging from written warnings, product recalls and prosecution. The regulations are being amended to allow infringement notices, carrying instant fines, to be issued.

These additional powers will give Energy Safety a means of quickly dealing with transgressors without the expense and delays of bringing cases to court.

Our advice

  • There is clear evidence that unsafe electrical products are being sold.
  • We urge Energy Safety to continue its audit programmes - particularly of online auction sites - and to actively pursue transgressors.
  • We support the move to allow Energy Safety to issue infringement notices and instant fines. The sooner this system is in place, the better.
  • We would like to see the development of a single, clearly identifiable New Zealand safety "mark" that could be applied to products - even using a sticker - with appropriate penalties for misuse. Consumers need a simple and direct way to identify safe products.


Safety tips

Three pin plug
  • Be wary of any low-cost plug-in appliance.

  • Make sure the voltage rating of any mains-powered appliance you buy includes 230 volts. Anything else may be unsafe.

  • Don't buy products that don't have the New Zealand flat-pin plug.

  • For three-pin plugs, two of the pins should have metal visible for only half the length of the pins. The other (earth) pin should be fully metal (see picture above right).

  • Double insulated symbol
    For two-pin plugs, both pins should have metal visible for only half the length of the pins - and the appliance must display the "Double Insulated" symbol (pictured right).

  • If you see suspicious products, get the relevant product and seller details and advise Energy Safety.

More help


Report by Bill Whitley