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Original poster

Shocked by this........

28 replies

shaz298 · 06/05/2011 16:26

I thought I was doing the right thing having socket covers. Seems they actually cause more risks rather than reducing them. See here : www.fatallyflawed.org.uk.

I couldn't believe it.

Sharon x

OP posts:
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dikkertjedap · 06/05/2011 16:59

Thanks, just been removing them all .... they will be binned!

dikkertjedap · 09/05/2011 10:26

Bump

Flossie69 · 10/05/2011 08:46

I would like to bump this too - have just looked at the site and am amazed that this is not being more widely publicized. Will definitely not be using socket covers!

Thank-you, Shaz!

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MarisCrane · 10/05/2011 09:26

Nice topic title Wink

sleepissues · 10/05/2011 14:00

So what should be used instead then?

I freaked out a few days ago as I have trouble getting the buggers out of the sockets, yet my 18month old managed to take take one out through the bars of his cot! I have moved his cot to the middle of his room, but its hardly practical as the room is tiny. Any ideas? Cant move cot to another wall as only 2 walls it fits against and both have double plug sockets....

mumof2beebies · 10/05/2011 15:31

HAH We had staff come out from the childrens' centre and write down that our plug sockets were unsafe (as well as no stair gate, cupboard locks, the usual) they provided us with all of these things on loan for free.

To think they didn't know about this??

Flossie69 · 10/05/2011 16:53

The video explains that you don't need to use anything, as the sockets are designed and manufactures to be safe.

pallymama · 10/05/2011 17:01
Shock Socket covers have just been binned!
TheMonster · 10/05/2011 17:04

www.fatallyflawed.org.uk

Bicnod · 10/05/2011 17:10

Thanks - just binned socket covers

dikkertjedap · 11/05/2011 12:54

Bump

FrozenNorthPole · 11/05/2011 13:13

I can't believe I didn't think of this myself. Will be removing them as soon as I get home.

minimisa · 11/05/2011 13:59

That's really interesting and a good illustration of how hard it is to resist a kind of peer pressure in parenthood as although I sort of remembered from school learning that plugs were safe (and when you think about it it's bloody obvious they would be given the risk of litigation etc) I still brought these things just because I felt I should. GRRRRRRRRRR.

By the way, I think it would be good to repost this under SOCKET COVER WARNING as people may not look.

dikkertjedap · 11/05/2011 21:35

Bump

TheOriginalFAB · 11/05/2011 21:38

I am having trouble reading it due to the blue background. Can anyone enlighten me please?

CarolinesDad · 17/05/2011 10:26

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet.

FlingonTheValiant · 17/05/2011 13:41

Thanks for posting this. Mum has been on my case to get socket covers now that DS is heading towards mobility.

kreecherlivesupstairs · 18/05/2011 07:53

Astonishing. I am another who went with the herd and got socket covers. I didn't get the foam things that you put on top of doors. My friend is a HV and she advised a towel over the top.

AKMD · 18/05/2011 11:26

Mine have just gone in the bin. Thanks OP.

Strumpypumpy · 18/05/2011 11:31

Fwiw I never used these as I knew that in order to use the plug you have to stick something in the top hole to make it live. And at a toddler group one day I went to remove one and it was hot! Eek! Well done OP for highlighting this.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 18/05/2011 11:41

There's far too much detail on that site for me. Call it dumbing down, but there needs to be a punchier, more bullet pointed approach that grabs attention. If people want to know more, they can delve deeper.

Please don't accuse me of not caring about my child's safety - he's 10 so the socket covers are long gone, otherwise I'm sure I'd trawl through it all. But I bet there are people who couldn't be arsed, who'd be put off by the volume of information, or couldn't get through it all thanks to literacy problems or whatever...

Could someone summarise? Have there been any actual incidents involving socket covers? What would happen if a two yo stuck something metallic into an uncovered socket?

CarolinesDad · 20/05/2011 18:29

I will try to summarize.

  1. British 13 Amp sockets have built in automatic shutters to protect against children poking things in them, they are considered the safest in the world and do not require external covers.

  2. No responsible national body recommends using socket covers. That includes the UK Government, RoSPA, Child Accident Prevention Trust and Electrical Safety Council.

  3. Sockets are made to accept plugs which meet very exact requirements. Anything which is not a standard plug MUST be made to the same dimensions as required for plugs.
    No socket covers which meet those dimensions are available!

  4. Socket covers introduce a variety of dangers; they make sockets less safe, not more.

Some socket covers have many faults, some just a few, but none makes your sockets safer than they are without. There is much more detail on the website, including reviews of many different types.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 20/05/2011 18:46

That's more like it, Caro :)

French sockets scare me. I grew up in a house here in the UK with ye olde two-pin (iirc) sockets - we had to buy adaptors for all our appliances. But even those scared me less than the sockets in my pil's French home, or the Parisian flat I rented in the early 90s.

So, what would happen if I stuck a screwdriver in a British socket?

hester · 20/05/2011 19:06

Blimey Shock

CarolinesDad · 21/05/2011 10:05

The shutters cover the two lower holes, so your screwdriver would not go anywhere.