Dangerous electrical goods In this feature plugs testing danger created for Fake or break Counterfeit and non-compliant electrical goods pose a serious danger to consumers, as testing of online and shop-bought items by trading standards and other agencies prove 99% 1 in 5 of all fakes could explode because of unsafe internal components of fake Apple chargers tested were unsafe Second-hand items tested for compliance 3,019 products checked 1 in 3 was non-compliant Compliant businesses 66% had no knowledge of product recall 32% conducted no PAT tests 173 visited 25% conducted no plug and fuse tests 7% failed to conduct safety checks User behaviour fewer than 1 in 10 would buy a fake if it was cheaper than the real thing 60% bought fakes online or via social media more than half experienced problems with a fake SOURCES: Electrical Fire Safety Week Briefing Pack, November 2016; BIS Funded Market Surveillance 2015 2016: Second Hand Electrical Goods; and research by UL, a global independent safety science company For illustrative purposes only To share this page, in the toolbar click on You might also like The great divide October 2016