Skip to main content

Apple told to warn against charging phone in bath after man’s electrocution

iPhone charger
Poravute/123RF
Some folks simply can’t resist taking their smartphone into the bathtub to check their social media feeds or play games, and occasional reports of fatal accidents suggest a small percentage may be going one step further and also charging their device while in the tub.

One such person, 32-year-old Richard Bull of London, died on December 11 from an electric shock he received when his iPhone charger touched the water of the bath he was in. The coroner examining the case, Dr. Sean Cummings, last week ruled the death as accidental, but said he intended to ask Apple to take steps to help prevent further such incidents.

Cummings said that while smartphones “seem like innocuous devices … they can be as dangerous as a hairdryer in a bathroom,” adding that handset makers “should attach warnings” to the devices to warn of the risks.

The postmortem into the fatal accident, which happened in December 2016, revealed burns on the right arm and right hand of 32-year-old Bull, the coroner said. His wife had called for help but he was already dead when first responders arrived at their London home. Police who investigated the scene said they found an extension cord running between the hallway and the bathroom.

Sheila Merrill of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents told the BBC that while such incidents are rare, “people need to be aware of taking an electrical appliance into the bathroom.”

“If you have got any appliance attached to the mains electricity circuit, you have to be aware there is a danger there,” Merrill said. “Electricity and water don’t mix, but particularly with phones, people don’t … always think about it. It’s not advisable to use them while they’re plugged in, particularly in a bathroom situation.”

Bull’s mother, Carole, told The Sun, “I worry so many people, and especially teenagers who can’t be separated from their phones, don’t know how dangerous it is.”

Editors' Recommendations

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
The DOJ has sued Apple over the iPhone. Here’s what it means for you
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro seen from the back.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro (left) and iPhone 15 Pro Max Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

If you're reading this article, chances are you have an iPhone. It's also quite likely that your friends and family members also use an iPhone. The iPhone is the smartphone of choice for millions of people in the U.S., and now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing Apple over the iPhone monopoly it has established over the years.

Read more
UPS worker accused of nabbing $1.3M worth of iPhones and other Apple gear
A MacBook and iPhone in dark red light.

The desirability and high value of iPhones and other Apple devices make the gear a popular target for criminals looking to make a fast buck.

In the latest such case, a now former UPS employee is accused of stealing more than $1.3 million worth of Apple iPhones and laptops from the shipping company’s warehouse in Winnipeg, Canada, before selling them in an operation that continued for seven months, the Winnipeg Free Press reported this week.

Read more
YouTube TV just got even better on iPhones and iPads
Multiview on YouTube TV on an iPad.

If you use the most popular live-streaming service on an iPhone or iPad, things just got even better. YouTube TV — which boasts more than 8 million subscribers — just pushed multiview live on Apple's mobile devices, as previously promised.

It works basically the same way it does on a television. YouTube TV picks the programs available in multiview, and you get them all at once, with audio coming from one of the shows. Tap another, and the audio switches. And just as before, you can get multiview for sports, news, business, or weather. (Though we definitely don't recommend watching four news channels at once in an election year.) It's just in time for March Madness, which is great, though we hope you'll be able to pick your own games instead of just sticking with the multiple viewing options YouTube TV gives. This will be great come fall, though, when the new season of NFL Sunday Ticket takes hold.

Read more