When cable distributor, UK Cables Limited, queried a Turkish consignment of PVC flexible cable, internal quality checks exposed a major cabling defect which has led to the withdrawal of many million metres of cables from the UK supply chain.
With questions still to be answered about the scale of the issue and how many metres have already been installed, it is clear UK Cables' prompt and robust response when faced with a compliance issue enabled the necessary action to be taken to alert all those in the supply chain to the problem.
UK Cables is a supplier of electrical, data and telephony cables and had been trading with Atlas Kablo of Turkey for just over a year. An initial trial order was received on time with product labelled and packaged appropriately. The cable carried a HAR scheme certification licence from the Turkish Standards Institution, TSE and had been independently tested by Basec (British Approvals Service for Cables) to prove it to be compliant with relevant British Standards specifications.
With delivery of subsequent orders proving less reliable, UK Cables reduced its purchases from Atlas Kablo. In January 2010, however, UK Cables received competitive pricing from Atlas Kablo for PVC flexible cable type HO5VV-F with a confirmed shipment date. UK Cables, therefore, decided to place an order with Atlas Kablo for PVC flexible cable which was duly delivered into UK Cables' Manchester operation in March.
A routine physical inspection however identified an irregular strand formation on the 1.5 mm conductor of 27 strands of 0.19 mm – most manufacturers produce 27-30 strands of 0.25 mm for a 1.5 mm cross section. It was at this point that concerns were raised about the products construction and safety.
UK Cables made contact with Atlas Kablo regarding its concerns but the company insisted the quality of the copper used in the construction enabled the conductor resistance value to be achieved without using a conventional strand formation.
Ongoing communication ensued and UK Cables received a test certificate from Atlas Kablo confirming a conductor resistance pass for the 1.5mm cable. UK Cables continued to have reservations about the credibility of the information supplied and decided to quarantine all goods.
Aware of the launch of the Approved Cables Initiative (ACI) earlier the same month, UK Cables sent samples of the cable for testing. The ACI works to proactively raise issues concerning unsafe, non-approved and counterfeit cabling entering the UK market place.
Several Atlas Kablo cable samples supplied by UK Cables were tested from 0.75 mm to 2.5 mm and were found to have insufficient copper leading to high conductor resistance which meant that they did not comply with appropriate British Standards. All samples failed on conductor resistance values and the sample of 1.5 mm cable even failed the conductor test for 1.00 mm.
UK Cables informed Atlas Kablo of the test results as well as Basec. Independent testing by Basec later confirmed the ACI's findings and led to the suspension of Atlas Kablo's Basec licence for a serious decline in quality across its range of products. The suspension is still in place.
Nigel, Gallie, product procurement manager for UK Cables said: "We are very pleased to have been able to identify this issue and bring it to the attention of relevant authorities. In this instance it is clear that the ACI is already playing a vital role in raising the issue of non-spec cables and will continue to act promptly in the future."
"It is important we work together as an industry to stop faulty, highly dangerous cable entering the market. By being vigilant, we have been able to protect our customers this time but this is a growing issue and one where all industry parties throughout the supply chain need to take action before safety is compromised and lives are lost," continued Gallie.
To date more than 14 million metres of faulty cable has been returned for scrapping by Atlas Kablo. Anyone in receipt of affected cable is advised to contact their supplier and further guidance should be sought from a qualified electrical authority if cables have already been installed.
