I was recently honored by an invitation of the Minsitry of Water and Electricity in Riyadh Saudi Arabia to speak at the 2nd Global Symposium of Electrical Safety Experts on how training and awareness reduce exposure to electrical hazards. Saudi Arabia is laying the ground work to change their electrical system, from a 127/230 volts to the European standard of 230/400 volts. Their recent statistics for the years 2005-2009 for short circuit accidents are 44,000 fires of which 45% were in the residential sector, 20% were in electrical units, and 18% were in public facilities. in addition there were 185 deaths of which 85% were in the residential sector.
The problem is that with the new change in voltage, is that many existing homes and facilties have dual voltage inputs to the building and how to make the conversion to the single European standard of 230/400, and get the message accross to the average person in Saudi Arabia.
The other problem that they face, is counterfeit electrical equipment and the proliferation of adapter to convert appliances to the different voltages (each voltage level has its own socket/plug type) causing underrated equipment to be connected to a different voltage level than the equipment was designed for.