Employees are unwittingly undermining workplace safety by using 'untested' electrical devices.

Almost 70 per cent of employees admit to plugging in personal mobile phone chargers at work, according to an independent survey carried out by office power supplier CMD.

Counterfeit phone chargers were identified as being particularly hazardous, as they have recorded failure rates of 99 per cent in basic safety tests.

Bruce Cantrill, Head of Marketing and Business Development at CMD, said: "Electrical safety must be taken seriously, especially in an office environment. Unregulated phone chargers are notorious for being poor quality and can pose fire risks, so it is essential that people take this into consideration when thinking about using them in the workplace."

The survey highlighted that women and those in the 18-24 age bracket most commonly used personal phone chargers in the workplace.

Electricals that have not been PAT tested (in the United Kingdom) can be unsafe. This is a worry when employees also confessed to bringing laptop chargers, fans and even vacuum cleaners in from home for use in the office.

Further problems are raised by the use of these household items in the workplace, as their high power demands can overload sockets intended for low voltage devices such as computers and printers.

Bruce concludes: "Lack of awareness over electrical safety and the subsequent improper use of appliances undoubtedly is a potential safety risk, and companies need to take responsibility for the safe testing and regulation of all devices used in the work place."

Source: The research was conducted online via Google Surveys in January 2018. A total of 751 people responded. Respondents could supply more than one answer, bringing in 955 answers in total.