Unsafe Electrical Goods

There is a story in the Sydney Morning Herald today about how a woman has died apparently as a result of a faulty USB charger purchased in here in Sydney. A photo of some of the chargers, possibly of the same model that allegedly caused the death, appear to the right. Unfortunately this photo is the best I could find of the pins. Looking very carefully you will see that the pins are totally metal. This gives you the idea that these devices should not be sold in Australia.

For the last few years, all plugs in Australia must comply with the Australian Standard 3112, which states that there must be an insulated part to the pin near the body. This is to stop people accidentally touching the pins when removing them, or to stop children getting electrocuted with a knife. The Australian Standard goes into some detail on how to test plugs and sockets – to the point where testing requires you to physically destroy about ten devices during testing.

Part of the problem is that this testing is expensive. It costs a few thousand dollars to get each device tested. Importers therefore normally rely on suppliers statements indicating that the devices comply. And sometimes these suppliers lie. And it is not even as if you can download a copy of AS3112 and do the tests yourself. You see, despite this being a mandatory standard, you need to buy a copy, or find a library that happens to have it available.

Probably the biggest problem is that the Chinese and the Australian plugs are almost identical. Some of the pin sizes are slightly different, but the use their sockets up side down. This means that active and neutral often get swapped. Once these products, which are cutting corners anyway, get to Australia, the products can be lethal.

Edit: I have added another photo, and it seems that these chargers are illegal under federal jurisdiction as well as state jurisdiction. You see, there is now a federal requirement for Minimum Efficiency Performance Standards on these power supplies. The devices do not appear to have certification for MEPS so are non-compliant in that respect too!