Beko has won a product safety innovation award from consumer champion campaigning charity Electrical Safety First (ESF) for leading the way in introducing flame-retardant back panels in its fridge-freezers.
The ESF has been campaigning for changes to European Union (EU) legislation with regard to increasing the safety of refrigeration appliances, but these have to date not been introduced, despite a number of catastrophic fires caused by fridge-freezers over the past few years, including most likely at Grenfell Tower.
Phil Buckle (pictured), ESF chief executive, said that Beko’s embracing a solution that reduces fire risk and increases consumer safety before it is compulsory to do so was to be commended.
Andrew Mullen, quality manager at Beko, said: “Beko is immensely proud of winning this award. Consumer safety is incredibly important to us and we’re so pleased to be recognised by ESF for the work we’ve done.”
Hoover Candy, which was recently acquired by Chinese appliance giant Haier, was highly commended by the award judges for its wi-fi-enabled cooker hood, launched in 2015 as part of the firm’s first collection of fully-connected appliances.
The product can be controlled and monitored via the Hoover Wizard app and the ESF said the award judges were “impressed” with its ability to monitor changes in temperature and grease levels and notify the user of overheating.
The HHV67SLXWiFi smart cooker hood (pictured) also has a security light, which can be turned on remotely when no one is at home.
A spokesman from Hoover Candy said: “We’re thrilled our wi-fi hood received a ‘highly commended’ safety innovation award from Electrical Safety First.
“Consumer safety is of utmost importance to us here at Hoover and, while we pride ourselves on producing innovative appliances, we’re really proud that our product has been recognised by the UK’s electrical safety experts for its unique safety credentials.”
The safety innovation awards were announced at the ESF’s annual conference earlier this week, where leading product safety experts from business, Government, and lawyers came together to discuss the future of product safety and risk prevention amid rapid technological changes and the UK’s imminent departure from the EU.