The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) has announced a recall on the travel adapters they had distributed in a gift pack.
Benny Ng, an electrical engineering master’s student at the City University of Hong Kong, posted a video on Facebook on December 22 about the potential risks of using the free adapters given out by the FTU. The video has gained more than 2,000 Facebook likes.
Ng told Apple Daily that his grandmother got the adapter in a gift pack distributed by the pro-Beijing FTU during the recent District Council elections. Ng explained that the risk arose because different plug pins can be pulled out simultaneously. In a test, he showed that both the pins in use and those left exposed but not in use conduct electricity at more than 200 volts. Touching the exposed pins may lead to an electric shock, he said. A spokesperson from the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department confirmed that the travel adapters may expose charged metal parts that would constitute a risk of electric shock, Ming Pao reported.
In a statement, the FTU said they ordered the adapters as gifts through a local company, but recently discovered that the products have potential safety problems. They apologised to those members and citizens who are affected.
Ng said the FTU should send volunteers to take the adapters back, as elderly people may not see the news or go on Facebook and so would not be aware of the recall.
In November, a netizen left a post on Facebook reporting that an adapter printed with the words “HKFTU councillor Amelia Lau Mei-lo” had become burned after use.
