SaferProducts incident

Failure type

Electrical shock / short

Incident narrative

SaferProducts.gov consumer incident report 20230713-B0EC6-2147346432. Severity: Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received. Product: Smart Electrician 41030SE (Smart Electrician Model #41030SE Surge-Protected USB TAP, light gray-white, 3 3/4 in. W x 3 5/8 in. H x 1 1/4 in. D (not including plug)). Incident: My husband installed a Smart Electrician Model #41030SE surge protector made by Southwire Company and sold by Menards. It has 3 grounded outlet ports and a USB-C and USB-A port. When he went to plug a charger into the USB-A port, he was shocked and had a minor seizure. Fortunately I was right there and saw it. I took him to the hospital and he checked out OK. It also blew a fax machine that was plugged into one of the "grounded" outlets. When talking to an electrician the next day he said there wasn't enough power in the USB-A port to cause this type of injury and that the entire unit may be defective and caused the shock. As my husband was lying on a wooden floor while plugging the charger in and not touching any other grounded surface, he said this should have further reduced any incident. The electrician will come out and test the electrical outlet itself to make sure it is properly wired and grounded, but it has been in use for decades with no incident. This is very dangerous and others should be warned. The unit had a UL sticker on it, but no "circuit-breaker switch" (or any switch) as indicated on the packaging.