Safety Laws !

What seems to be a curious anomaly in safety attitudes between countries has involved the Swedish retailing giant - Ikea.   Ikea's famous "flat pack "furniture is sold all over the world and a very popular item is a free standing storage cabinet which contains a number of drawers.   In North America this has been found responsible for the death of six children and twenty-nine million units have been recalled.    It remains on sale here in Australia.

The danger seems to stem from the possibility that if a child pulls out the bottom drawer and stands in it, the entire storage cabinet may topple and create a crush hazard, and it is exactly the type of furniture people choose for childrens bedrooms.   Ikea refuses to withdraw it from sale in Australia, but it does come with brackets to enable it to be fixed to a wall - although these brackets are not accompanied by enabling screws.   Each cabinet comes with a safety recommendation that it be fixed securely to a wall.

This all seems to fall betwixt and between the safety laws in this country.  There is a safety warning and the onus is on the purchaser.  We can - and we do - ban products on safety grounds and prior to every Christmas Consumer Affairs people raid toy shops and the markets to weed out cheap toys that have safety hazards.  Loose batteries. Parts that may break off and become a choking hazard.  Lead paint - which has long been illegal.

Each Australian state enacts its own laws that cover faulty goods and in New South Wales the procedure is crystal clear.  Goods that fail within their warranty period should be returned to the point of sale and the customer is entitled to select "one of the three R's "   -   Refund - Repair - or Replacement.     That is the customers choice - and is not the perogative of the merchant to decide.

Some merchants try to bamboozle the customer by referring them to the manufacturers instructions which accompany the goods - and which call for the goods to be shipped back to the manufacturer - at the customers cost - with the only option being " repair ".   Obviously, many manufacturers sell their product in all states and in nearby overseas countries and that condition applies where no warranty laws apply.   Where goods are sold in New South Wales, the laws of this state take precedence.

There is another scam awaiting the unwitting buying whitegoods in NSW.   Often discount houses will suggest that the customer purchasing a refrigerator or a washing machine invest in an "extended warranty ".   These days many items carry a regular warranty far longer than the traditional "twelve months " and this extended warranty is exactly that, but with the proviso that a brand new unit will be immediately supplied if a fault occurs.    Those not familiar with our state warranty laws are therefore buying something that already applies to the item they are purchasing.

There clearly seems a need to tighten the scope of our safety laws.   We recently had a rash of children injured when fly screens proved to be an insufficient barrier, resulting in kids falling from windows.  Laws limiting how far windows can be opened and standards for fly screens were quickly put in place as a safety improvement.

One of the remaining problems - is consumer apathy.   We still have thousands of faulty washing machines in NSW homes capable of causing a house fire.  They have been subjected to wide publicity and yet many people continue to use them and have not called for the free service repair on offer.

Even the best safety laws have limitations !