Faulty goods causing accidents, even after recalls

Consumers, often oblivious to alerts issued by importers and manufacturers, risk serious injury by using defective home appliances that have been recalled for safety reasons.

In the two years to March 31, defective appliances recalled for free repairs or replacement caused 332 serious accidents, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The accidents during fiscal 2007 and 2008 left at least 15 people seriously injured, The Asahi Shimbun found. Most cases involved fires.

The ministry figures were reported to a recent meeting of the Product Safety Subcommittee of the ministry's Industrial Structure Council.

While calling for better publicity efforts by manufacturers and importers, panel members also pointed to the need for cooperation from customers.

Unlike automobiles, whose owners are registered, home appliances are sold to a large number of unidentified customers.

"Serious" accidents are cases involving fires, death or injury requiring 30 days or longer to heal.

Under the revised Consumer Products Safety Law that took effect in May 2007, manufacturers or importers are required to report serious accidents to the ministry.

According to the ministry, the largest number of cases, 84, involved oil water heaters and bath boilers. In many cases, fires started after kerosene had leaked, due to aging rubber parts that had hardened.

The second-highest number of cases, 77, involved electric cooking stoves. Switches were inadvertently turned on, burning flammable items on or near the stoves.

There were 24 accidents involving microwave ovens, 15 cases with electric heaters and 12 with air conditioners.

Eleven serious accidents were caused by gas bath boilers and 10 others by washing machines or washer-dryers.

According to the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE), an independent administrative entity that collects accident and recall information, there have been about 1,100 recall cases involving home-use products since 1989.

But manufacturers often find it difficult to locate users.

Chofu Seisakusho Ltd., a Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture-based maker of water heaters and other home equipment, faces such difficulties.

In July 2007, the company started a recall of 33 types of oil bath boilers and water heaters for free checks and repairs after a faulty safety mechanism led to 13 fires.

As of April, only 20 percent of the 790,000 units covered had been examined or repaired. In the meantime, 12 more fires involving the equipment were reported.

The company sold the products to building materials and home equipment businesses between 1983 and 2001.

Many units should already be out of use. Many businesses that purchased products did not keep customer lists or have closed shop.

In recalling products, manufacturers make announcements using TV commercials, flyers and websites.

In its efforts to recall kerosene fan heaters, Panasonic Corp. has spent more than 25 billion yen on publicity since 2005.

In that year, cracks in the products' air-supply hose led to imperfect combustion, killing two and injuring eight from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The government in April started a system to oblige purchasers of nine specified products, including gas water heaters and oil fan heaters, to provide customer data to manufacturers.

Makers will contact them later--in 10 years, for example--to check for aging degradation that could lead to accidents.

Some discount stores also began to notify users of such products by examining the purchase history of their point-card memberships.

At the subcommittee meeting, members also called for customers to actively check recall information.(IHT/Asahi: June 8,2009)