Unsafe Goods (Rubber Hot Water Bottles) Notice 2004

• Background

6. On the 25 November 2004 the Minister of Consumer Affairs declared, rubber hot water bottles that do not meet the British national standard to be goods that will or may cause injury to a person by way of an unsafe goods notice under Section 31 of the Fair Trading Act 1986 (a copy of the Unsafe Goods Notice is attached in Appendix A). In effect this removed rubber hot water bottles which do not meet BS 1970:2001 from the New Zealand market and thereby reducing and preventing the potential for injury.

7. An unsafe goods notice stays in force for a period of 18 months and has the effect of prohibiting the supply of the goods to which it applies. The 18 month period is an interim period which allows the Minister of Consumer Affairs to consider the need for either an indefinite ban or a product safety standard.

Background

8. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs received a cluster of 10 complaints between May and July 2004 that rubber hot water bottles were splitting at the neck and causing injury. This resulted in some of the complainants receiving hospitalisation with significant burns. Many of these rubber hot water bottles were marked with the British Standard, BS 1970:1984 or BS 1970:2001. The Ministry purchased a number of bottles from various sources and many upon closer visual inspection did not appear to meet the standard.

9. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs issued a media alert on the 31 August 2004 to ascertain the magnitude of any problem with hot water bottles. A further 150 complaints were received in 24 hours, including some relating to hospitalisations, doctors visits and time off work were received. The bottles had been purchased from a number of sources across a range of retailers.

10. Problems identified with the rubber hot water bottles were splitting at the neck, splitting of side seams or leaking stoppers. The main problem found is that the rubber can be less than the minimum required thickness of 1.4 mm (under BS 1970:2001) for a bottle of up to 2 litres, at various points on the bottle.

11. A foreseeable danger and misuse of a hot water bottle is consumers filling the bottle with boiling water directly from the kettle. However many complainants indicated that the rubber hot water bottles were splitting with only hot water from the tap or from filling cooled boiled water from the kettle.

12. In September 2004, the Ministry undertook consultation with various stakeholders. The Ministry consulted with the Retailers Association, Commerce Commission, NZ Customs Service, and known importers, suppliers, and retailers, of the proposed course of action at the time.

13. Maintaining the status quo was not considered a desirable option as rubber hot water bottles are a low cost item and the potential injury risk remained present for the community and an unsafe goods notice was issued on the 25 November 2004. A product recall was also not considered a viable option due to the extent of availability of the product and number of suppliers and retailers who trade in hot water bottles.