Web safety potential untapped

Ford recalled Explorer tyres last year

Few companies have woken up to the idea of using the internet to tell consumers about product recalls, as Tad Piesakowski found out.

A car air bag that inadvertently deploys, an inhaler that delivers an excess dose or a baby monitor that fails to raise the alarm.

Although seemingly unrelated, the above have one thing in common - they have all led to their manufacturers issuing product recalls.

Usually prompted by the potential risk rather than actual incidents, manufacturer's recalls invariably take the form of drab looking recall notices in national newspapers or posters in their shop windows.

Some companies are also able to contact individual purchasers via their product warranty registrations or loyalty cards, but perhaps inevitably a significant number of purchasers go untraced.

Car info

Keen to improve public awareness of recalls, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has been looking into more innovative approaches.

These include using company websites, where it recommends that "posting a recall notice in a prominent position is a good way of informing those interested in your company".

Yet few manufacturers or retailers seem to have adopted this strategy.

Many fail to even make reference to their product recalls on their sites. Those that do only list the latest recalls. With European legislation still several years away this situation is unlikely to improve in the near future.

Fortunately there are other places on the internet which address the issue of recalls.

Details of vehicle recalls, an obvious area of concern for car owners, are available on two sites - Carsource and the government's Vehicles Inspectorate.

Web advice

Finding information about other products is harder. A good place to start is the website of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents which currently offers listings going back 4 years.

However the plan is for the non-profit consumer protection site, Trading Standards Net, to eventually adopt and maintain this list.

For the most recent recalls, the government's Trading Standards Institute website seems the best option, listing an average of five recalls a month.

The London Fire Brigade's (LFB) website offers a listing too. Understandably, it emphasis is on domestic products whose potential faults constitute a fire risk.