A reminder to everyone - FatallyFlawed - Child Plug Socket Covers Campaign

Discuss A reminder to everyone - FatallyFlawed - Child Plug Socket Covers Campaign in the Electricians' Talk area at ElectriciansForums.net

I worked as a science teacher for 10 years. Most labs have sockets on desks or adjacent to them. I can tell you teenagers can be just as bad as infants at poking pens, pencils, pairs of compasses etc into the sockets. In a colleague's lesson a 16 year old managed to shove a paper clip into the socket and turn it on! He was very lucky that he let go of the clip before flicking the switch. (He still got a different kind of shock!)

I have emailed the link to some of my old colleagues a link of the video.
The other half had to watch the video too (had to wait for Home and Away to finish to make sure she was paying attention!) She visits nurseries as an assessor and is going to spread the word. :21:

Top Job!
 
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Tony said:
Just a reminder to everyone, could you all please keep banging the drum for the http://www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/ site and campaign?

The sooner the world is rid of “childproof socket covers” the better it will be.

I’ve managed to get them banned from two health care trusts, with your help more should follow.
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good for you tony i pointed 2 out at a local hospital my wife was attending these was in a play area but they just looked dumb at me
 
As these covers are in service equipment and plugged into BS1363 socket outlets should they be PAT tested and failed as not complying with the British Standards for design and safety
 
maglamps said:
That's a great idea to keep our world free from childproof socket covers.You have done a wonderful job Tony.
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It is VERY important to understand that, as our site makes clear, the FatallyFlawed campaign is intended for UK residents only! I am sure that the information we provide may also be of use in other countries which use BS 1363 sockets, notably Ireland, but is does NOT apply to any other type of socket. Socket covers can be genuinly useful in some countries, notably those whose sockets are recessed and do not have internal shutters. Maglamps, we do not want to change anything in Australia or any other part of the non-BS 1363 world!
 
Theses socket covers are clearly pointless, anyone with half a brain can see that, but I have no problem with people capitilising on the stupidity of neurotic idiots.

But fataly dangerous? Not so sure....
I see the point about them being inserted upside down but surely this would only be possible if the cover had only an earth pin and no L or N, which I have never seen.
To suggest that a 3 pin cover is dangerous is just nonsense if you ask me. The original article goes on a lot about how bad they are, but doesn't really say why, except that they are pointless.
 
Dave 85 said:
Theses socket covers are clearly pointless, anyone with half a brain can see that, but I have no problem with people capitilising on the stupidity of neurotic idiots.

But fataly dangerous? Not so sure....
I see the point about them being inserted upside down but surely this would only be possible if the cover had only an earth pin and no L or N, which I have never seen.
To suggest that a 3 pin cover is dangerous is just nonsense if you ask me. The original article goes on a lot about how bad they are, but doesn't really say why, except that they are pointless.
Click to expand...

The thing that makes me laugh is that a BC table lamp with no bulb in it is far more likely to give someone a belt than the vast majority of things ranted about on these forums (as I discovered as a 4yr old)
 
Dave 85 said:
I see the point about them being inserted upside down but surely this would only be possible if the cover had only an earth pin and no L or N, which I have never seen.
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No, as the cover reviews on the FatallyFlawed website show, we have yet to find a socket cover which will not fit into, and stay in, a socket upside down, most have short pins which makes it easier, but even those with pins of the correct length will stay in place due to the flexibility of all socket covers, in fact the flexibilty results in a pincer action which tends to grab the socket and stay put.

Dave 85 said:
To suggest that a 3 pin cover is dangerous is just nonsense if you ask me. The original article goes on a lot about how bad they are, but doesn't really say why, except that they are pointless.
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Try reading the website! Upside down insertion is just one danger, allowing pins and paperclips to be inserted alongside the socket cover is another, ISODs breaking off and holding the shutter open is yet another danger, and then there is the permanent damage caused by inserting incorrectly sized objects (ie ALL socket covers) into a socket.

Dave 85 said:
The thing that makes me laugh is that a BC table lamp with no bulb in it is far more likely to give someone a belt than the vast majority of things ranted about on these forums (as I discovered as a 4yr old)
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Of course that is right, but what sensible parent would allow a small child to be alone in a room with a table lamp? Sockets tend to be rather more difficult to put out of the way, they are usually secured to the wall.
 
cymroaur said:
Can I check? Are we trying to get rid of ALL 'safety socket covers', or just those featured in the FatallyFlawed website?
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Good question! FatallyFlawed is concerned about all plug-in socket covers intended for UK sockets. We have not found any which do not have at least some of the problems described. If anyone knows of a plug-in socket cover which is not shown in the cover reviews we would be pleased to hear about it.

It is theoretically possible to design a socket cover which is as safe as a plug, although it would still be unnecessary, but we do not believe any such cover is available.

There are some concerns about the type of cover which goes over the entire socket, particularly those which require a key to open and may prevent quick removal of power in an emergency, but that is not what the campaign is about.
 
FatallyFlawed said:
It is VERY important to understand that, as our site makes clear, the FatallyFlawed campaign is intended for UK residents only! I am sure that the information we provide may also be of use in other countries which use BS 1363 sockets, notably Ireland, but is does NOT apply to any other type of socket. Socket covers can be genuinly useful in some countries, notably those whose sockets are recessed and do not have internal shutters. Maglamps, we do not want to change anything in Australia or any other part of the non-BS 1363 world!
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying the doubt.
 
We were using these in our premises as we run childrens camps, came across the fatally flawed website and thought it made sense, but instead of just taking them off straight away I spoke to and sent a link to our head of safety, he read the site and basically agreed with it , result is we no longer use them, I have put a copy of his reply below
I think what you read on there is a logical and reasoned argument that seems to come to a sensible conclusion. Although they may look like a "safety improvement", when one looks closely at it there is probably no real benefit from them and, as the site points out, some apparent increase in risk. There are many aspects of safety that are like this. As they say, a socket cover provides the perfect tool to open the shutters and expose an otherwise perfectly screened live terminal.

I'd suggest that we should probably follow the advice on this site, which is linked from the fatallyflawed one. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Yourchildshealthandsafety/Yourchildssafetyinthehome/DG_10038395

This says that the risk is of children plugging in an appliance that may be hazardous rather than any real risk from them poking anything into the socket, which has shutters.

I'd never really thought about this before but on balance I think my recommendation would be to follow the DirectGov advice and not to bother with socket covers but to keep appliances away fom the kids, who will I assume, also be closely supervised.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. It's an interesting example of a "safety" device that isn't
 
baby_with_hammer.gifi will get that socket cover in the wrong way, even if it kills me.
 
Thanks Tony. We have these 'safety covers' all over our house to 'protect' our 18 month old grand son. He has figured out how to pull these out, and then tries to insert them in again. Looking at the fatally flawed web site, I can now see the risks associated with the safety covers. So, now banned from the house!

Many thanks.
 
I will be removing them from my business partners house tomorrow, with 5 yr old and 20 month old inquisitive and boisterous boys its an accident waiting to happen. Never given the things a second thought until I read the Link.
 
my sister in law is registered child minder i have told her a few times but she still has some plugged in as she was told of one of the bodies that she is regsitered with to use them
I keep telling her of the danger and have told her to google fatally flawed but to date i dont think she has
I am doing some work for my brother at the minute so will again whilst there google it and show her to get her to change her mind then i will suggest she sends email to whoever told her this so they may learn from the danger of there incorrect advice
as i go round testing i may even remove after informing her and my bruv of course
 
I take it you don’t agree with the campaign?

Given you’re location, could you please explain any advantage of the American system of socket outlets over the UK system.

Whereas your system does require protection the UK system doesn’t, we as a group are trying to get rid of superfluous protection that make the situation worse.
 
Thanks to Tony for this. I manage and do the maintenance for our local Village Hall and these dam things are just one of the many stupid items the so called education and local goverment inspectors force the staff to use.
We now have long expensive plastic baffles the length of eaach door to stop the kids getting there fingers trapped.
 
Thanks Tony, I was really shocked to read this. I will pass the information on to everyone I know. Is it ok to link to the campaign from my own website?
 
like to add another,cheap plugs,it happened to my mam a while a go on her iron,these things get plugged in and out on a regular basis,she pulled it out and the top came off while the plug was still in the socket no damage done as she knew the danger tho some people wont,some ive seen the screws are pretty poor and can work loose very easily
 
alarm man said:
like to add another,cheap plugs,it happened to my mam a while a go on her iron,these things get plugged in and out on a regular basis,she pulled it out and the top came off while the plug was still in the socket no damage done as she knew the danger tho some people wont,some ive seen the screws are pretty poor and can work loose very easily
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Seen e'm, a bloody disgrace they get on the market.
 
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My wife bought a load of these when we had kids, but I refused to use them.

Mothercare preying on mother's to make a couple of quid on a totally useless product. At least our ones had three pins so weren't dangerous. Still useless though.
 
Thanks for the heads up on this one Tony. I came across this thread today and called my wife straight away as she is a childminder at home and every socket we have is covered up with one of those pescy things. I always have a terrible time getting the things out to charge my phone. Anyway she has removed the lot and also been in touch with childminders in the area with the link to the site. Im happy to say by dinner time today 5 houses worth of children are now safer. Thanks
 
Haven't read all 128 posts to this thread, so forgive me if someone has touched on the issue that I raise on the post.

If these things are so bad and they are found to be installed during a periodic, what Observation Codes are being used on the EICR (C1, C2 or C3)?

I am guessing that these items are not manufactured under any specific BS or other standard. So perhaps 511.2 applies. And so if the person carrying out the inspection and testing sees these items fitted they have to make a decision: Either that they are satisfied "that the equipment provides at least the same degree of safety as that afforded by compliance with the regulations" (511.2). Or if they are not satisfied then , by definition they must apply an observation code, C1, C2 or C3.

So what's it to be?
 
Unfortunately they don’t fall within the scope of BS1363 they are classified as “toys”. IE of a size that they can’t be swallowed by a child. Stupid but unfortunately true.
Please, if you find them during a EICR please note them and point them out to the customer. There is no legislation to control them.
 
Tony said:
Unfortunately they don’t fall within the scope of BS1363 they are classified as “toys”. IE of a size that they can’t be swallowed by a child. Stupid but unfortunately true.
Please, if you find them during a EICR please note them and point them out to the customer. There is no legislation to control them.
Click to expand...
So are you saying that these should be noted as an observation? And if so which code?
 
seftonbarn said:
So are you saying that these should be noted as an observation? And if so which code?
Click to expand...

To be honest I don’t know what to tell you.

They are unsafe but the regulation don’t cover them.
All you can do is recommend their removal.

But please carry on and try to educate the people about them.
 
Tony said:
To be honest I don’t know what to tell you.

They are unsafe but the regulation don’t cover them.
All you can do is recommend their removal.

But please carry on and try to educate the people about them.
Click to expand...

Surely there's something in BS1363 that says that BS1363 socket outlets are only to be used with BS1363 plugs. Are you saying that you have no obligation to code anything that you find plugged into a BS1363 because it is not part of the installtion even if you believe it to be dangerous.
 
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