Winter - the house fire season !

Fire brigade statistics clearly show that winter is the peak season for house fires and one of the main causes is careless use of heating appliances.  It is just so easy to position a heater close to flammable curtains, or forget to turn off an electric blanket that has become worn and wrinkled - and known for delivering "hot spots. "

Now there is a new menace bringing danger into our homes.   The relentless march of cheap imports is seeing new electric and gas heaters turning up in discount stores - many of which do not meet the electrical safety standards of this country.   Random checks by the people tasked with checking the validity of goods for sale reveal imports that have escaped customs scrutiny - and many are simply accidents waiting for a place to happen !

In some cases, the safety standards would not meet the laws of any country.  It is a case of a factory in a third world country designing and making a heater that defies any logical standards - and selling it at a price to a bulk exporter to move in world markets.   What is alarming is the ease with which such items are slipping through customs inspections and appearing in retail outlets.

Dangerous goods can take many forms.   We have an annual influx of toys with easily detachable small parts that could choke a child and games with sharp objects that do not pass our safety standards,  Each year, just before Christmas safety inspectors do the rounds of retail outlets and order such items to be removed from sale, but often the only respite is brief because they tend to reappear at weekend " flea markets ".

We need a better regulatory system for heating appliances.   Fire safety in the home is just so basic that no appliance should be allowed into a store without it having passed an appropriate safety inspection - and that means a law change.

Perhaps all forms of heating appliances - both gas and electric - should require a compliance sticker to be legally offered for sale, with appropriate penalties for any breach of that law.   If the nature of that sticker was so prominent that it's absence would generate alarm in buyer's minds we would be well on the way to introducing a meaningful safety standard.

As things stand, dubious heating items are freely available - and about to add to this winter's house fire statistics !