to remind everyone that socket covers are dangerous!

[insertrandomnamehere]

Did a search and couldn't find a post on this topic for a couple of years so in case people still don't realise...

If you use Child safety socket covers, get rid of them! They are dangerous and they actually make sockets more dangerous not less.

Socket covers are completely unnecessary and could potentially cause a fatal accident. UK plug sockets are designed with shutters to prevent anything except a UK plug being inserted into the socket. It is extremely unlikely that a young child would be able to open these shutters, as the child would have to insert something of exactly the right size into the earth pin. This is not possible with real plugs. But socket covers hold these shutters open and introduce a range of new dangers.

Unlike real plugs, the various design faults of socket covers allow a curious child to insert them (upside down) into the earth pin only. On many sockets this opens the safety shutters and allows children access to the live contacts!

If you have these at home, please take a few minutes to read the national campaign calling for the banning of socket covers: //www.fatallyflawed.org.uk

[insertrandomnamehere]

Please read the link in the OP - sockets have shutters. A child cannot insert anything into the live terminal, no matter how big the hole is.

If you use a socket cover, then they can.

[insertrandomnamehere]

Sockets are designed precisely to prevent children putting things in them. Socket covers - which are not recommended by anyone apart tom those who sell them - actively work against these protective measures.

[fifi669]

RoSPA have stated they know of no injuries or deaths due to socket covers.....

www.rospa.com/faqs/detail.aspx?faq=596

[fifi669]

Not being the most sensible person in the world I just stuck a lollipop stick in the earth. Shutters open.

Seems a lot more likely than a child liking the look of a covered socket, managing to take it off (despite needing another cover or long nails as mentioned before), turning it upside down and putting it into the earth.

I def know which one would give me more time to stop them.

[WhatHo]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet (yep I've not RTFT)...

...a shock under 500v is considered a minor shock. UK plugs are 240v.

I found this out because on New Years day last year my DD2 (9 months old at the time) electrocuted herself - with a plug, not the socket.

In our rental house we have these in-floor plug sockets into which we had plugged a lamp. During the NYE party we had pulled a heavy table over the lamp plug and ripped its back off, leaving the live wires exposed. We hadn't realised what had happened.

DD crawled over it and put her poor little hand on the exposed plug back, shorted all the lights and burned her wrist very lightly. She screamed for about 2 (very frightening) minutes then calmed down and was fine.

The hospital took it seriously as she was born with a hole in the heart - she was kept in overnight with a heart monitor - but said the chance of any temporary or permanent damage was very unlikely, even in a baby.

Now I'm not suggesting you go and stick your finger in a socket (which you can't anyway), but it does make plug covers all the more pointless.

[Honsandrevels]

I read that website a while ago and had a look at our socket covers. I tried putting them upside down etc and it didn't work at all. There was no way of doing it.

We also have items which we have next to a plug that is not always plugged in, like a lamp for example. A child could just as easily play with a real plug and put it in upside down etc. Our plug socket covers are v hard to get off. We kept them.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Fifi RoSPA also state that:

13-amp power sockets made to BS 1363 incorporate a shutter mechanism, which prevents inappropriate access to the live connectors. RoSPA therefore does not consider it necessary to recommend the use of socket covers.

www.rospa.com/homesafety/policy/electricity.aspx

[fifi669]

Recommend it necessary is a world away from dangerous.

[WanderingTrolley1]

I have 3 children between 15 years and 12 weeks and this information is new to me!

Why don't we know about this?!

[fifi669]

Infact the only way we could know the odds of either thing happening would be an experiment with a room containing only two dummy sockets, one covered, one not, lots of poking material and a bunch of kids!

[WhatHo]

fifi

At least we know from my unwitting experiment that they wouldn't die in the process!

[specialsubject]

An AC shock from the UK mains is perfectly survivable in most circumstances BUT NOT ALWAYS. I've had one from doing something stupid in a lab, quite a belt but I'm fine. But people have been killed from dodgy tree lights. Also, current is relevant, more than voltage, and the conductivity in the area also matters. (wear wellies!)

sending the current through the heart is what is most likely to cause problems - so the baby in the above example just touched the live with one hand and didn't do that. Glad she was ok.

the recommendation when working on electrics is a) turn it off b) check it is off and c) if in doubt, use one hand only.

but of course, this not a subject for experiment and electricity needs to be taken very seriously.

[WhatHo]

specialsubject I bow to your clearly superior knowledge (not being sarcastic, I genuinely mean it), as I'm only going on what the hospital told me. Total layman here, and my post probably needed a proviso of some kind.

It was very frightening indeed, so I do promise not to experiment with my children or with Fifi's

[insertrandomnamehere]

*fifi669 - RoSPA have stated they know of no injuries or deaths due to socket covers.....

//www.rospa.com/faqs/detail.aspx?faq=596
*

The problem is that socket covers do damage sockets, and damaged sockets do cause fires. But when the fire occurs, there will be an appliance plugged into the socket therefore the cover gets the blame.

The statistics really are irrelevant. The fact is that using the sockets makes them less safe. The fact that sockets the risk is still relatively small is irrelevant. Why use them?

[insertrandomnamehere]

Sarinka - no idea about NZ I'm afraid. I suggest you ignore all the advice here because what is true on one country may not be true in another.

[insertrandomnamehere]

Not being the most sensible person in the world I just stuck a lollipop stick in the earth. Shutters open.

Did the shutters remain open when you took your hand away fr

[insertrandomnamehere]

From the switch, or did you have to hold the stick in place?

[insertrandomnamehere]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet (yep I've not RTFT)...

...a shock under 500v is considered a minor shock. UK plugs are 240v.

I don't know who told you this but it is wrong. Your dd was lucky. 240v is more than enough to stop the heart of a grown adult yet alone a baby. It can and does kill.

[insertrandomnamehere]

Specialsubject is correct, the current matters as well. The exposed lead from a phone charger is unlikely to kill you. The power supply to an electric shower, on the other hand, almost certainly will.

[insertrandomnamehere]

Apologies for the poor formatting, typing these posts on a phone!

[insertrandomnamehere]

Apologies for the poor formatting, typing these posts on a phone!

[IShallCallYouSquishy]

Never used them. Didn't see any point. DD is 2 and so far never paid sockets any attention.

Mind you, I'm quite lax and don't have catches on doors/drawers or stair gates either

[specialsubject]

whatho I am of course not suggesting that anyone tries this at home, and again very glad that your baby suffered nothing worse!

poster from NZ - not sure if your sockets have shutters as standard, I don't think they did from what I recall from my travels there. So for you, socket covers MAY be a good idea.

I've just done some experimenting. It does not seem possible to put a UK plug in a wall socket upside down, because the other two prongs prevent the plug going into the earth. BUT you can do it with an extension block because the block is narrower so the prongs don't foul it. Lesson - keep extension blocks out of reach of kids.

[insertrandomnamehere]

Honsandrevels- Fatally Flawed have reviews of all types of covers on their website. They say they are not aware of any cover on the market that does not have these problems. See if you can find yours there:

www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/html/cover_reviews.html