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Okay after going round the houses….
One manufacturer reckons it an EU thing, another a DTI thing in conjunction with Trading Standards.
So I called the DTI, they’re getting back to me I hope. As well as emailing the Health & Safety Executive.
Hunted the EC website, but may as well have not bothered! 😉
In other words a lot of confusion over the issue!
Called Trading standards where I got some more sense. It would come under the general safety laws in the UK irrespective of any EC Directive. The reason being is that we are unable to judge the level of competency of the consumer or person requesting the information therefore, as soon as we hand out the technical information we become liable for that consumer’s safety.
Their take on it was that, in particular, but not withstanding personal face to face advice, that phone, email or faxed information was extremely dangerous as there was no way for us to rate the competency of the person requesting the information. If it went to court the chances are that we would be fined for giving the information and that a disclaimer would offer little or no protection. Selling or advising on any gas repairs is just a non-starter and if caught at that you’re looking at a spell in a little room with bars on the window these days!
Nice eh?
It gets better…
I spoke to AIS about it and the rule from several manufacturers that they deal with is that if they have to advise the customer to use a tool of *any* description, in other words anything bar your hands, then it automatically warrants a service visit by a trained technician. Should the consumer be given advice beyond this then the liability is transferred to the person that instructed the customer to carry this out without the knowledge that they were competent to do so.
So, the conclusion with TS was that if you hand out technical information you are on very dangerous ground indeed and they strongly advised against it.
K.
next
Tonight I have supplied Technical info to a member of this Group,and although I know him I have never assessed his ability or otherwise,I never felt I should need to !
So where do I stand should a situation develop which could be attributed to my helpfulness?
8)
My take on it would be that within the trade it’s okay as you would have to assume that anyone in here (as I do check as far as is possible) is in the trade and is competent to repair an appliance although they may need model specific guidance but not the “how to” basics. If that makes sense.
K.
The DTI got back to me on this yesterday afternoon and are still investigating the issue further.
However, whilst they can see no specific legislation on their books for it they did tell me (same as TS) that doing such a thing is highly inadvisable and can lead you open to a claim should there be any cause for one. When I asked about specifics on that they simply indicated that the claim could arise from a simple cut to serious injury or even death and, if it could be proved that you gave advice without knowledge of the circumstance that you could be held personally liable for it. 🙁
Basically, don’t do it!
K.
Reply from HSE:
Thank you for your enquiry regarding liability for advice given over the phone or via e-mail or fax.
As an information service for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) we are not in a position to offer legal advice, and it is ultimately for a court of law to decide upon the level of liability for advice given which subsequently results in injury.
However, you may wish to seek legal advice from a solicitor on this matter, and advice from your insurance company regarding professional indemnity insurance.
I hope this helps, but if you require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact this address again or telephone HSE Infoline on 08701 545500
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