Hidden Danger Of Child "Safety" Plugs
For UK Mains Socket Outlets
These "safety" devices could place you in a MUCH worse position than you would be without them.
Your child could be exposed to much more danger than if you'd not used them at all! This article is about assessing the risks of using them, instead of just blindly using them becasue "that's just what people do, isn't it?".
Engineered To Be Safe
UK mains sockets conforming to BS1363 are known as the safest sockets in the world - that's quite a statement!
They are designed with shutters that cover up the Live connections when a plug is removed. These shutters are opened by the plug's Earth pin being inserted into the sockets (this is why the Earth pin is longer than the other two). So, naturally UK sockets are engineered to be safe before using any additional devices.
These "safety" plugs DO NOT CONFORM to BS1363 or ANY other recognised safety standards!!
Why should I care about standards like BS1363?
From the BSI group "Standards are the distilled wisdom of people with expertise in their subject matter and who know the needs of the organizations they represent – people such as manufacturers, sellers, buyers, customers, trade associations, users or regulators."
It's not just a boring piece of legislation, there is a standard in place for a very good reason, to protect you and your family!
DANGER - Real Experience
I was just pulling this "safety plug" out of the socket, when the Earth pin just broke off in the socket, keeping the Live shutters open! - How stupid! This was my awakening to this real issue.
This leaves us in a really bad place, as the Live connections are left exposed! We're clearly now much worse off than if we'd not used a safety plug in the first place.
This "safety plug" was not BS Kite or CE marked, not had any refrence to any standard at all.
Conclusion
Your child IS far safer without them in your house!
Why take something that's already safe, and make it dangerous?
Please think twice before buying these awful things. Just because other people use them, doesn't mean they are a good idea... Think about it and assess the risk for yourself. Don't just take it for granted (based on no evidence at all) that they are in any way safer.
The only people who benefit from you using these items are the plastics manufacturers and their shareholders.
Notes
BS7671 defines both the "Live" and "Neutral" named conductors as "Live conductors", as they are both current carrying under normal circumstances, either of which can present lethal voltages under fault conditions. For this reason, the "Live" conductor is renamed to "Phase".
This leaves us with two live conductors (as they are both potentially live), one of which is named the Phase conductor, the other is named the Neutral conductor.
Other Resources
I found a couple of very good websites regarding this issue:
FatallyFlawed.org.uk | BS1363.org.uk