A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) turns OFF electric power when appropriate to protect people from electric shock and electrocution. GFCI protection use was first allowed by the 1968 National Electrical Code® (NEC) as a method of protection against electric shock and electrocution from underwater swimming pool lights.
However, GFCI’s were first mandated by the NEC in the bathrooms of homes in 1975.
Since 1975, the mandated use of GFCIs expanded to many different locations in dwellings and non-dwellings.
As the number of GFCI protected locations increased since the 1970s, the associated number of electrocutions per year has decreased even though the population in the United States increased from about 205,000,000 people in 1970 to about 332,000,000 people in 2020.
The Electrical Safety Foundation International estimated that between about 1971 and 1980 there were about 1,101 electrocutions yearly on average which decreased to about 246 electrocutions yearly on average between about 2011 and 2020.
Thus, since the introduction of GFCIs in dwelling bathrooms in 1975, there has been about an 80% drop in yearly electrocutions on average through 2020, even though the population of the United States has increased by about 60% during roughly the same period.