Friendly Baby News by www.friendlybaby.co.uk includes the latest on real nappies, and natural and eco baby products. Web site and product updates are also included.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Fatally Flawed?
Here at Friendly Baby we've never used socket covers or plug covers as they are sometimes known. With the knowledge that British sockets are actually the safest in the world (hurrah!) as they have internal shutters, we made the decision that they were just one safety measure too far...
We have only just found out that 'safety' socket covers are actually dangerous! Most are designed in a way which allows a curious child to insert them upside down into the earth pin only, this has the effect of opening the safety shutters and allowing children access to the power sockets! Normally it is quite difficult to find an object which will do that, and stay in place as a socket cover will.
It is a Myth that children can’t remove covers. The pins on socket covers are never quite the same size as a plug, so they cannot properly fit into sockets, and babies as young as 5 months have been known to remove a socket cover!
Do you have any idea if “safety socket covers” conform to standards? What does it say on the packet or on the cover itself? Actually, socket covers are UNREGULATED!
Please watch the video in full to see some truly shocking facts about safety covers.
Fatally Flawed are pushing to get the law changed with regards to safety socket covers but in the meantime we urge you to stop using them, and to pass this message on to anyone else that you know who has responsibility for children.
I shall remove my socket covers after watching this, but I'm worried what will happen if a child inserts something into the earth hole of an uncovered socket as presumably that will also open up the live hole.
It is very difficult to find something, other than a socket cover, which will both open the shutters and stay in place by itself. It is possible for an adult or older child to use something like a screwdriver of just the right diameter to hold down the shutters with one hand, and then poke something else into the live contact with the other hand, but small children rarely work with both hands coordinated in this way. (A baby will often be using the other hand for support.)
If you use sockets made by MK then even this small potential risk is avoided because they do not use the earth pin to open the shutters. Older MK sockets will open only when both of the shorter pins are inserted together, and newer MK sockets require all three pins to be inserted. You can tell if your socket is by MK because it will have the MK logo in the centre of the holes. If the shutters are light in colour it is probably the two pin opening type, if they are black then it is probably the three pin opening type.
Friendly Baby News Feed (RSS)
2 comments:
I shall remove my socket covers after watching this, but I'm worried what will happen if a child inserts something into the earth hole of an uncovered socket as presumably that will also open up the live hole.
It is very difficult to find something, other than a socket cover, which will both open the shutters and stay in place by itself. It is possible for an adult or older child to use something like a screwdriver of just the right diameter to hold down the shutters with one hand, and then poke something else into the live contact with the other hand, but small children rarely work with both hands coordinated in this way. (A baby will often be using the other hand for support.)
If you use sockets made by MK then even this small potential risk is avoided because they do not use the earth pin to open the shutters. Older MK sockets will open only when both of the shorter pins are inserted together, and newer MK sockets require all three pins to be inserted. You can tell if your socket is by MK because it will have the MK logo in the centre of the holes. If the shutters are light in colour it is probably the two pin opening type, if they are black then it is probably the three pin opening type.
Post a Comment