Fatal electrical accidents are increasing in Germany

The number of fatal electrical accidents has increased according to the most recently available figures. While 34 people died after an electric shock in 2016, it was exactly 42 in 2018, announced the VDE. While only men died in 2016, eight women died in 2018, six of them in the household. Seven of the male fatalities died in the household and six in industry and trade. 21 were in the “Other” category. The figures include deaths in Germany of all ages and nationalities. Due to the lengthy data acquisition and evaluation, the data for a calendar year is only available two years later, explains the VDE.

Loading in the bathroom

In view of the total of 27,172 people who died in an accident in 2018, the increase in deaths from electricity is still at a low level, but the Association of Electrical, Electronic and Information Technologies sees a reason to point out: “Unfortunately, death certificates are increasingly rarely used to indicate the locations The death has occurred. A reliable analysis with reference to the location is hardly possible. One explanation could, however, be the increased use of chargers, including in the bathroom. explains Thomas Raphael, accident and lightning protection expert at VDE. The VDE warns against “cheap products on the Internet”. “More and more cheap products sold on the Internet do not meet European security standards. We are very concerned about the trend that online orders from Asia in particular often do not meet our norms and standards and can thus lead to malfunctions, short circuits and security problems”, describes VDE CEO Ansgar Hinz. The test engineers at the VDE Institute test over 100,000 products for their safety every year; If the tests are passed, the products receive the VDE mark. “In this way, the VDE has helped to considerably reduce the number of deaths from electrical accidents. In 1970 the number of electrical accidents with fatal results was still over 250,” explains Raphael. (anw)