The national media has again highlighted the electrical safety and fire dangers associated with the online purchase of cheap phone chargers.

The Daily Mail recently reported that hundreds of thousands of such devices ‘are currently plugged into sockets in offices, children’s bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens around the country, powering up mobile phones’.

The story then went on to describe an incident in Sheffield where it has emerged that a fire which claimed victims from three generations of one family last month, including a nine-week-old baby, was probably caused by a faulty charger.

As part of its research, the Mail found multiple reports from around the country of house fires being attributed to an issue with a mobile phone battery or charging device in the past month alone.

While the chargers which are supplied with branded electronic goods are made to the highest standard and are no cause for concern, the newspaper reported that cheap, unauthorised, ‘unbranded’ chargers — the type usually bought on the internet, from market stalls or abroad, rather than from reputable shops and suppliers —can be hazardous.

It claims that 1.8 million mobile phone chargers are bought online in the UK each year, with unsafe devices often being made in China for as little as 3p each. Many of these cheap devices fail to meet requirements of the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations Act 1994.

The full story is available at www.dailymail.co.uk/

Fire risk warning over cheap phone chargers