Market surveillance 2023 - Potential safety deficiencies in bargain offers

Market surveillance is carried out throughout Switzerland by the ESTI in accordance with the Ordinance on Low-Voltage Electrical Products (NEV; SR 734.26). Electrical products for household, office, commercial and industrial use are checked for conformity and safety on a random and risk-based basis.

1260 low-voltage electrical products were checked online and by means of on-site inspections, including at points of sale. Further inspections were carried out directly at manufacturers, through follow-up inspections and on the basis of reports from third parties.

A total of 210 products had formal or technical defects, which corresponds to 23% of all electrical products inspected. Of these, 202 products were found to have safety-related defects that could lead to potential hazards such as electric shock, scalding, smoke development or fire.

If there is a potential risk to persons or if proof of conformity is missing or incomplete, the ESTI can prohibit a product from being made available on the market. In the reporting year, 114 sales bans were issued for these reasons. Based on targeted inspections, various household and office appliances, LED lights, lights with lasers, chargers, power banks, plug & play photovoltaic systems and battery storage systems were affected. Some products for industrial use in potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX areas) in industry and commerce were banned. In addition, numerous electrical appliances with an unauthorized foreign plug were again affected by a sales ban.

The sale of electrical appliances with a foreign plug (especially a Schuko plug) is generally prohibited in Switzerland, as live parts can be touched when attempting to plug them into the socket or through incorrect manipulation of the plug connection. In addition, such plug connections can be overloaded during operation and thus cause a fire. Consumers should reject such electrical appliances directly at the point of sale and can report them to the ESTI using the contact form at www.esti.admin.ch.

In 23 cases, economic operators in Switzerland withdrew defective products from the market in cooperation with the ESTI. In 10 cases, these recalls or safety warnings were also published on the communication channels of the Office of Consumer Affairs BFK at www.konsum.admin.ch and www.recallswiss.admin.ch respectively. These 23 cases involved various household appliances (waffle irons, massagers, wet and dry vacuum cleaners, juicers and heatable ski boot bags), USB chargers, consumer electronics, solar modules, power stations (large power banks with sockets), lithium batteries, measuring instruments and lights.

Due to the rapid pace of technological development, ESTI has received numerous inquiries from manufacturers, dealers and private individuals, mainly about charging stations (wallboxes) and charging cables for electromobility, components for photovoltaic systems (inverters, solar modules or grid connection units, etc.), plug & play photovoltaic sets with an output of up to 600W, power stations and battery storage systems for private and residential use and the Swiss IP55 household plug-in system for wet areas.

Please note the following:

• Beware of purchases on non-European platforms and websites without a Swiss contact address (to be found in the legal notice) of the operator. With such purchases, the consumer becomes the importer and thus assumes responsibility for the dangers and risks posed by the device.
• Beware of bargains. Such appliances on offer are often inferior goods with incomplete product testing, which are or can become unsafe over a longer period of operation due to insufficient electrical components and rudimentary construction. Consumers can hardly recognize this from the outside. In the case of products imported directly from abroad, there is often the problem that plugs or the mains voltage are not suitable for Switzerland.

We therefore ask consumers to pay attention to the following information:

• Make sure you use the correct Swiss plug. Although it is tolerated to fit a fixed adapter to the Schuko plug, this solution is weaker in terms of safety and, depending on the type of foreign plug, not always possible.

• Make sure you have an accessible and competent customer service team, clear operating instructions and test marks on the appliance. There are also labels for electrical appliances. A recognized Swiss test mark is, for example, the voluntary safety mark of the ESTI. Appliances certified with the safety mark are published at www.esti.admin.ch. Appliances with recognized test marks demonstrate higher standards of product safety and therefore offer consumers real added value.

Remember: electricity is invisible, the appliances may be small and inconspicuous, but they can release enormous amounts of energy under certain circumstances. When using electrical appliances, especially older models, always check their integrity. Is the sheathing of the power cable still intact? Is the switch still firmly in place? Are all covers still stable, crack-free and secure? At the latest, if conductive parts are visible through which current is flowing, the appliance must no longer be used and must either be repaired professionally (no tape repairs) or disposed of.

Source: ESTI