paulears Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Actually, not as silly as the title suggests, have a look here. Bearing in mind the point of the gadgets, the conclusions hadn't really occurred to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timd Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 This was done fairly heavily on DIYnot a while back, from discussion of a toddler who died in an incident with a discarded plug and trailing lead with bare ends. There are good ones and there are bad ones. The best solution is to stick to MK sockets with the new gate design which is really very safe, and ignore the silly protectors which can do more harm than good. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 I've known this for years. In fact since 2 years old when I first started playing with them to open the magic shutters in the sockets... My mum got to me before, as a 5 year old, I tried to plug the mecanno in! I'm a bit of a disciple for abolishing these things, they're pointless and dangerous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callumb Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 They have some rather valid points there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdwarren Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 There's even been a previous discussion on here about them! I do think that the Fatally Flawed website goes into unnecessary detail about why they are a danger. However from looking after my four year old cousin and witnessing him pull one of these covers out then, trying to put it back in again I do agree that these covers are not needed and can cause more harm than good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Lots of good info and a valid discussion topic that will be totally ignored! People will always spend money on child safety things even if they don't work! Get the demos redone with nicely manicured female hand, and LOTS of mums would take notice. Maybe BS 1363 should be extended to cover insulated socket covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Just try to persuade the jobs-worth child care inspectors that sockets are safe without them... <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
callumb Posted June 3, 2011 Share Posted June 3, 2011 Just try to persuade the jobs-worth child care inspectors that sockets are safe without them... <_< Point them to the BS: BS 1363:1995 , That site and the RoSPA Home Safety Policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ojc123 Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 This was done fairly heavily on DIYnot a while back, from discussion of a toddler who died in an incident with a discarded plug and trailing lead with bare ends.TimI nearly killed myself with a very similar situation when I was about ten and, quite frankly, should have known better. I could see the bones in the palm of my left hand through the burns. I still have the marks as a permanent reminder about what electricity can do. It's why I'm a bit neurotic about electrical safety now. The socket covers are an unnecessary and potentially dangerous thing and I've passed the RoSPA and fatally flawed links on to anyone with young children for a while now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timd Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 I nearly killed myself with a very similar situation when I was about ten and, quite frankly, should have known better. I could see the bones in the palm of my left hand through the burns. I still have the marks as a permanent reminder about what electricity can do. It's why I'm a bit neurotic about electrical safety now. The socket covers are an unnecessary and potentially dangerous thing and I've passed the RoSPA and fatally flawed links on to anyone with young children for a while now. Does prompt you to think about what you do with a cut off plug. I've got a box with a few in at home, a sort of might come in useful box. No young children around, and the box is on a reasonably high shelf, but I suppose I should probably be having the fuses out of them just in case. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brainwave-generator Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Where I grew up, dad was a sparky. Sockets were all at ankle-height, but the switches at shoulder height. Good solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 The best solution is to stick to MK sockets with the new gate design which is really very safeMK have had the shutter system that needs equal pressure on the L and N pins for yonks, and they really are streets ahead of the "ordinary" shuttererd variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Reading the website that Paul linked to, it seems that MK and Legrand now do sockets that need all three pins to be inserted before anything opens. I didn't know that. An excellent bit of marketing by whichever company first produced these things, though - convincing people that something which is already pretty safe needs an extra layer of safety on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timtheenchanteruk Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 These things are one of my pet hates (as a father of 3 and spark) I am currently awaiting a reply from Ofstead, as a local child care establishment has these in plcase, and when I questioned the practice, I was told that they had been told to use them, I will report back when I hear back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomHoward Posted June 4, 2011 Share Posted June 4, 2011 Does prompt you to think about what you do with a cut off plug. I've got a box with a few in at home, a sort of might come in useful box.I've got a few of them lying around at work, but when something's been unwired I cut the trailing ends back to the cable at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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