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36
and came into operation from 1st June, 1962. The British Standards
Institute has also issued a Standard Specification (No. 3,300), to which
all new oil heaters offered for sale should conform.
As a routine measure, all Public Health Inspectors going round their
districts in Westminster look out for any oil heaters which are offered for
sale and which do not comply with this standard. Particular attention
is paid to secondhand shops and stalls where old oil heaters may be found.
So far, no oil heater which does not comply with the standard has been
found offered for sale.
In any doubtful case the Council is empowered to purchase a sample
heater for testing, but the necessary tests can only be satisfactorily
carried out by the British Standards Institute. The fee for such an
examination may amount to as much as £35 to which must be added the
cost of purchasing the heater or its component parts (say, £15). Although
it is understood that the heater may sometimes be useable after testing,
and may therefore have some secondhand value, an expenditure of up to
£50 would, therefore, be incurred in respect of each oil heater submitted
to the Institute for examination.
The London County Council report concluded by suggesting that
action was needed to warn the public of their danger from oil heater
fires, and that Metropolitan Borough Councils with their detailed local
knowledge would be the appropriate authorities to organise suitable
campaigns.
Accordingly, opportunity was taken to include in the Home Safety
Campaign (mentioned in the preceding section of this Report) a reference
to the dangers which exist from oil heater fires; one of the advertisements
inserted in the Westminster and Pimlico News and the West London
Press dealt specifically with this problem. As a further measure 250
copies of a special leaflet "How Safe is your Oil Heater?" were obtained
from the London County Council and distributed by the local division
of the British Red Cross Society to all old people receiving meals under
the Meals on Wheels service.