SGS Informs on the Safety of Electronic Devices Used and Abused on Vacation

July 30, 2012 - PRLog -- Electronic devices ready for a vacation
According to a study conducted by Michigan State University this year, smartphones, tablets and laptops are at the top of the vacation packing list. This should be hardly any surprise considering that the total number of laptops sold worldwide until 2012 was approximately 539 million, and that the number of Android and iOS devices activated until this year was 765 million.

When packing a laptop or a tablet, travelers also include many of the accessories as well, because most of these devices come with storage cards, mice or USB drives and an entire suite of charging cables, power adapters or converters, batteries and battery chargers.

But smartphones, laptops, tablets and their electronic accessories are not the only popular devices that go into suitcases – there are also 26.7 million e-readers sold worldwide in the past two years alone, more digital cameras and music players to provide hours of entertainment before needing to be recharged. Also, depending on the type and duration of travel, vacationers also pack other electric devices such as toothbrushes, hair dryers, hair straighteners, shavers and other personal hygiene devices.

With global travel available to a rising number of consumers, manufacturers of such devices have to take into account, from the design stage, the challenges that come with the movement of electronic products between countries and continents. Such variables might include voltage differences, temperature variations and local environmental conditions, including abundance of sand, prolonged exposure to sunlight or high humidity.

Tips to protect your home from electronic unit failure
Not all devices are lucky enough to go on vacation once in a while, which means that many homes have to be prepared, before leaving for long periods, to ensure that the electrical devices and appliances staying at home will not be a source of hazards and will not impact the energy bill. Large energy companies usually provide an online list of useful energy saving tips while on vacation.
The most obvious tips for consumers (http://eweb.org/saveenergy/home/tips/vacation) include turning off all the lights, as well as turning off or switching into energy saving mode the following types of appliances: water heaters, air conditioners, white goods including refrigerators, microwave ovens, washers and dryers. Stand-by devices such as TVs, DVD players, PCs and stereos that operate on ‘phantom power’ should be also turned off as they can account to as much as 10% of the home energy use. The other major reason is to reduce the risk of a potential unit failure that could lead to a dangerous situation during the home owner’s absence. As most consumer products are not meant for use in unsupervised conditions, the occurrence of a failure that can lead to a fire cannot completely be disregarded.

Beside the steps consumers can take to ensure the safety of their electronic products, manufacturers also need to do their utmost to increase the safety and quality of their products. They have to ensure their products’ compliance to energy consumption regulations including Energy Star for North America or the EU Energy Labeling Directive and they need to perform the required verification and testing, as per the number of standards applicable to their products in various parts of the world.

SGS can support manufactures in achieving compliance with market regulations for almost all the types of electrical and electronic products (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Electrical-an...) as well as accessories consumers may take with them on vacation.

Detailed information can be retrieved from the following sources:
•   More People Staying Connected on Vacation (http://news.msu.edu/story/more-people-staying-connected-o...)
•   Computer Sales Statistics (http://www.statisticbrain.com/computer-sales-statistics)
•   The Verge - Google Stats  (http://live.theverge.com/google-io-2012-live-blog-day-one/)
•   The Verge - Apple Stats (http://live.theverge.com/wwdc-2012-live-blog)
•   E-reader Statistic  (http://www.statisticbrain.com/e-reader-statistics/)
•   Vacation Tips for Your Home  (http://eweb.org/saveenergy/home/tips/vacation)

For more info on how SGS can support the market access process of your E&E devices, please contact:

Contact details:

SGS Consumer Testing Services
Dipl. Ing. Silke Hilmer
CTS - Global Marketing Manager
Am Rödingsmarkt 16
20459 Hamburg

t: +49 (0)40 30101 826
Email: cts.media@sgs.com
Website: http://www.sgs.com/pages/consumer-testing/sgs-consumer-goods-and-retail.aspx

ABOUT SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With 70,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,350 offices and laboratories around the world.