Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many instances the Office for Product Safety and Standards found of Whirlpool’s tumble dryer modification being applied incorrectly (a) in the machines it has tested and (b) in the tumble dryers of Whirlpool customers it assessed as part of its inquiry into that company’s modification programme.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) published the findings of its review of Whirlpool’s tumble dryer modification programme on 4 April.

The review explored whether Whirlpool’s technical modification, designed to further reduce the risk of lint fires arising from its tumble dryers, was effective in both design and installation. The review concluded that there is a low risk of harm or injury from lint fires in modified machines and that the modification reduced the level of risk.

As part of the review OPSS considered the quality assurance used by Whirlpool when undertaking the modifications in consumers’ homes and OPSS purchased 20 used tumble dryers from online sales sites that appeared to have been modified at some point. Examination of these machines revealed variations from Whirlpool’s specifications for the modifications. It was not possible to establish the history of individual machines including whether, when and how the machine had been modified. It was not therefore possible to draw firm conclusions regarding the cause of these variations. OPSS has therefore written to Whirlpool requiring them to set up a more rigorous system of quality assurance, including a programme of examinations of dryers that have been used by consumers, to ensure modifications are correctly installed. OPSS will scrutinise Whirlpool’s actions against these requirements.