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Plunket welcomes new heater safety measures
Plunket welcomes new heater safety measures but more work to be done
Plunket is welcoming Ministry of
Economic Development measures to promote the safe use of
unflued LPG cabinet heaters, but is urging the work to
ensure the future health and safety of children in New
Zealand must continue.
This follows a review of the cabinet heaters by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, which concluded the heaters present safety and health-related issues for children.
“This review and these new measures represent a step forward“, Plunket National Child Safety Advisor Sue Campbell says.
The measures include requiring, through regulation, that specific approval be sought for an appliance before it can be sold in New Zealand; mandating the provision of safety and health labelling on all LPG cabinet heaters; and working with the Ministry of Health and the LPG Association and industry to ensure mandatory and widely available safety and health labelling and messages.
“These are significant steps but there is more work required here,” Ms Campbell says.
As recently as 2009 Plunket’s membership agreed to
advocate for legislation to make illegal the use of unflued
gas heaters in the home.
The review did not recommend
banning unflued LPG cabinet heaters in New Zealand.
“The review acknowledges unflued LPG cabinet heaters are the most common sort of gas appliance used in New Zealand. Cabinet heaters are found in about one-fifth of New Zealand households,” Ms Campbell says.
“The review confirmed there are health-related outcomes arising from the use of LPG cabinet heaters for children with asthma. For that reason they are not recommended for use in homes with children with respiratory conditions.”
Plunket hopes to work in consultation with other organisations to ensure at risk families are supported to make the move away from unflued heater models, that new information and safety labelling is provided in a variety of languages, and the sale and regulation of second hand appliances is addressed.
A 2006 Warm Homes Technical Report showed that 72 per cent of gas heaters in the country were unflued, indicating the use of these heaters is widespread.
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