An online game highlighting some electrifying Halloween horrors is raising awareness of the dangers of recalled products, and the need for product registration.
The ‘House of Horrors’, developed by the charity Electrical Safety First, is set in a typical haunted house. It challenges players to find, against the clock, the killer lurking in the shadows. Along with some typically spooky objects lying around – a pumpkin, a knife, an axe, a bottle of poison and a chainsaw – there are also innocuous-looking household objects. However, the three killers are all recalled electrical appliances and, at the end of the game, players are directed to Electrical Safety First’s recall checker (for an up-to-date list of electrical recalls) and AMDEA’s Register My Appliance site.
Electrical Safety First director general Phil Buckle notes: “In the UK, almost half of all domestic fires arise from electricity and the vast majority of those are caused by electrical products – and their misuse.
“While we have, in general, an excellent safety record in this country, the complexity of the global supply chain and consumers’ reluctance to register their products adversely impacts on the success of the recall process. We hope this fun approach to a serious issue will raise awareness of the potential dangers of recalled products and the need to register them.”
A major report by the Charity – Consumer Voices on Product Recall – found that concerns over personal information being used for marketing purposes inhibited consumers from registering their appliances. However, AMDEA’s register will only use consumer information for safety notices and product recalls.
AMDEA chief executive Douglas Herbison explained: “While domestic appliances have never been safer, we have over 100 million large appliances in use in our homes – and they are in service for a decade or more. But if an item has to be recalled by a manufacturer, they need to be able to trace the affected models. We hope our website and Electrical Safety First’s innovative digital campaign will help address this issue.”
