Unfortunately, products will, from time to time, be released in the marketplace with faults that are not detected until in use.

How a company handles this is important not only to the safety of consumers but to the reputation and financial well -being of the manufacturer (in Australia an importer of foreign manufactured goods is  treated as the manufacturer for consumer protection purposes).

(A damaged washing machine. Photo taken from the Product Safety Australia warning)

Unsafe products-recall of Samsung washing machines and getting the message out

Six Samsung top loading washing machine models have been found to have a fault that can cause a fire in the machine motor.  As few of us take time out of our busy days to watch the washing machine do its thing, this fault is a high risk with serious consequences.

Samsung issued a recall of these model numbers and engaged in recall advertising campaigns including over social media in April 2013. It published subsequent reminders and NSW Fair Trading also issued a media release in April 2013 warning consumers about the dangers.

Despite this, only 53,307 of the 144,451 machines sold in Australia have been recalled and fixed. Last week the ACCC through Product Safety Australia issued another an urgent public safety warning.

Unsafe products- Toyota  misleading consumers and the regulator

In 2009 and 2010, Toyota recalled 12 million vehicles worldwide (there was no recall in Australia) because of a fault that caused cars to accelerate without input from the drivers, including while the drivers were trying to slow down.  The fault was linked to several deaths.

In the USA, Toyota delayed in recalling the faulty vehicles and was accused of, and admitted to,  concealing the problems and making misleading statements over 2 safety issues.  In settlement of criminal proceedings Toyota has paid $1.32 billion. Toyota admitted it lied when it told both the public and US safety regulators in 2009 that it had addressed the cause of the problem.

What does the Australian Consumer Law say about recalls?

• -If a product is unsafe or is likely to cause injury to a person it should be recalled as soon as possible.
• -Unsafe products are usually recalled from the marketplace by the supplier or manufacturer.
• -Under Australian law suppliers of unsafe products must report deaths, serious injuries or illnesses that are associated with consumer goods.
• -Guidelines and procedures are published to help with recalls and the relevant notifications that must be made.
• -Products must comply with mandatory safety standards if relevant.
• -The publicity from selling goods that cause deaths or injuries and responding too slowly will not be good.

3 things  suppliers can  do to reduce faulty products causing injury and  being fined?

1. Don’t delay in recalling consumer products as soon as a likelihood that they will cause injury comes to your attention.

• -Delays can mean further deaths or injuries. Toyota’s delays in recalling cars that had accelerators that had the possibility of sticking meant that at least 5 people died.
• -Selling banned and unsafe products can lead to fines and penalties.

2. Review  your procedures .

• -Would your company have the same difficulties identifying purchasers that Samsung is having?
• -Are there processes that you, (a manufacturer, importer or retailer) can establish to track goods to make it easier to find purchasers?
• -Do you have effective complaints handling processes  in place to collect, analyse and identify potential faults early on to enable your organisation to act quickly and reduce the number of potentially dangerous products entering into and remaining in the marketplace?

3. Don’t mislead consumers or regulators about the safety of products or what is being done to rectify problems

• -The regulator has wide powers of discovery and to seek verification for claims
• -Making false or misleading statements can add to the penalties  a company can face.

If you are not sure how to design an effective complaints handling processes and managing compliance contact us to see how we can help.