A coroner says manufacturers should be stopped from keeping safety concerns secret after a father died in a fire caused by a faulty fridge-freezer.
Santosh Benjamin Muthiah managed to save his two young daughters - aged three months and three years old - by passing them to neighbours through a window at his North London home.
However the 36-year-old was overcome by smoke and died two days after the fire.
The faulty Beko fridge-freezer A wide-ranging number of recommendations put forward by London Fire Brigade and Hertfordshire Trading Standards – including forcing manufacturers to reveal emergency safety concerns in a public database - were backed by coroner Andrew Walker.
Under the proposals, failure to report faulty products could lead to unlimited fines and even prison sentences.
Lawyers acting for Mr Muthiah's family said the changes "would stop manufacturers keeping safety issues secret".
Mr Walker blamed a defrost timer on the family's Beko fridge-freezer as he recorded a narrative verdict at North London Coroner's Court for the death in November 2010.
Manufacturer Beko was aware of a possible safety issue as far back as 2003, the inquest heard, but failed to rectify it.
However, Mr Walker said a produce recall may not have prevented the blaze.
Clayton Witter, former managing director at Beko, said the concern had been judged as not adequate enough to warrant a safety recall despite a "serious risk" to safety.
The victim's wife, Dr Jennifer Benjamin, said the family had been unaware of any safety concerns.
The inquest heard that manufacturers can currently be fined £5,000 for faults, compared with an average cost of £11m to recall a white goods appliance.
A statement issued by Dr Benjamin after the inquest read: "We sincerely hope that this legal exercise results in changes to prevent incidents of this nature in the future."
A spokesman for the Business, Innovation and Skills Department said: "We are yet to receive the coroner's report in this particular case but when we do we will, of course, carefully consider the recommendations and respond in due course."
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