Every year in the UK hundreds of people die and many thousands are seriously injured in their own homes due to fire, carbon monoxide poisoning, gas explosions and electrocution.
Official records show that a high proportion of these casualties are caused by, or are substantially the result of, faulty or missing residential safety products.
It has been claimed that official statistics may in fact understate the level of risk. It is well established that adoption of such products, including, for example, smoke detectors, CO detectors and fire extinguishers, has made a significant impact in reducing domestic deaths and injuries.
However, the fact is that a large number of households still have none of these products installed or have old, broken and unreliable products in their homes, much of this due to the cost. This is literally a matter of life and death.