Electrical socket safety

[Lindenlass]

Someone sent this to me and I want to share it as it shows how electric
socket covers actually make electric sockets more dangerous, not less
dangerous.

My fil was an electricity scientist,he's been saying this for years.

He refused to have them in his house when my dc were tiny it really hacked me off at the time

Blimey - that's really scary! Thanks for this!

Very interesting, didn't even realise sockets had safety features built in. Will take a closer look at ours. Naturally would have bought covers but I did wonder how many kids actually electrocuted themselves before they were invented!!

seen that before on here. maybe they should try it out on that scientist show

thanks for starting this thread, I had no idea!

Im a CM and raised this issue with nicma (n. irish ncma) abd the early years team who do the house inspection, and both said that I HAD to use socket covers.

we had to use socket covers for 8 year olds and over

'ealth and safety gawn mad

though they do make plug sockets look more attractive

I've seen it before too. Not convinced they are that dangerous, but I do have a clear memory of taking a socket cover out and playing with it when I was little and my parents weren't looking. Putting it back in as well, probably the right way round but I don't know whether I would have tried it all ways. I'm not going to use them because they seem unnecessary to me. The gallery did worry me though with some of the designs of them!

Thank you lindenlass. I hate the bloody things but DH is a terrible worrier - maybe now we can take them out...

What a rip off though.

And at CM having to have them even though shown to be dangerous!

They don't in the UK JH - Lmc said she is in Ireland.

I don't think I said anything about where LMC is based? Surely it is just as wherever it is if they have the same plugs?

Isn't NI in the UK anyway?

My brother told me this years ago, which is why I always used this type - in fact I still actually have one in place evn though DC are now 21 & 19!
It also stops children turning sockets on or off while things are plugged in.

Oh yes, it is JH - sorry, misread the post and thought it was ROI. Though I think they have the same plugs as well?

The thing is I don't think that company have done any official research so government etc are unlikely to take notice.

Not sure what you mean by "Official Research", thing is it appears that no one else in the UK has done ANY research!

Did you read the background at this page? The fatallyFlawed tests are in accordance with the (as yet unimplemented} report for ANEC, an official EU consumer body.

Regarding NI, it says on the FatallyFlawed FAQ page that the Northern Ireland Education and Training Inspectorate has confirmed that they do not mandate the use of socket covers.

Woah! I never realised this and have been super vigilant in taking covers with me on hols etc as I have a son who likes to poke things (keys...) into sockets etc Well once a knife in the toaster too (!) Thanks for this info - I never knew they could be put in upside down and those ones where you can poke a pin etc in!!!! It seems rather ridiculous that we are led to belive we need them if in fact they are completely redundant and perhaps dangerous themselves!

Thanks for posting this link - I did know about the built-in safety features of the UK sockets but didn't know that the "safety" covers made them so dangerous.

Good to know.
Lmccrean - why don't you email the nicma team that link?

The whole thing is a total mega rip off isn't it

Dunno, every since I caught DC1 attempting to water our sockets (real water, real watering can, but simple cup full of water would do the job nicely, too), I just feel better about having socket covers. Can't see anything in the videos/on the website to change my mind about that.

No socket cover will protect your sockets from watering, the only way to do that is to fit weatherproof sockets of the type intended for outside use!

There will be a tendency for water poured onto a socket cover, or a real plug, to track along the pins by virtue of "capillary action". This makes it probable that a wet plug or socket cover (which is plugged directly into the live contact) will be even more dangerous than a wet socket faceplate (which has further insulation between it and the live contact).

This is a case which demonstrates that educating children about water and electricity not mixing is vital! Otherwise there is probably no substitute for surveillance.

I have had similar convos with other mums again and again.

And anyway most of the covers are dead easy to get off and toddlers hands are just the right size to do it too!

I still have some as felt pressured into getting them but kept trying different ones until i found some that are hard to get out - ie i can hardly get them out either

my dad was an electrician for 25 years and he said that a child would have to jiggle something into each of the holes to get a shock, which is a pretty fiddly thing to. I've not bothered with socket covers in my house. (got 4 stairgates though, safety glass, cupboard locks etc)