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

[kbl123]

What if scare tactics of potential hazards especially concerning children usually go along with a preventative product with a huge marketing campaign.
A simple, logical, thought out and reasoning assessment of these tactics however needs support.
thank you for drawing my attention to such a blindingly obvious problem.

 

[Eric Trician]

Very interesting,

I am new to the forum heard about it through friends and colleagues this was a real eye opener!!!!!

 

[Mile high Mike]

You can count me in FF, never actually thought about it but its quite obvious. I've just had them banned from all Travel lodges in Derbyshire after referring managers to the link you posted. Well done on the research.

 

[grandfortune]

E mailed my local Nursery,(well and well known national compnay) as i saw them in there when dropping my little on off, here is the reply


Dear Mr Crow
Thank you for your recent email raising concerns about socket covers that has been forwarded for my attention.
Prior to your email I was aware that some concern had been raised about the use of socket covers, however as these have been recommended for use in settings for a number of years by the regulators and the fact that the Institution of Engineering and Technology admit there are no cases of any children being harmed by socket covers. We have not to date taken the decision to have them removed from our settings, however I am in the process of preparing a paper for consideration at the next Exec meeting in July.
We have a number of settings some with sockets located above dado height others with them at floor level and we must consider the potential of harm. At the moment I would consider appliances left plugged in to be of a higher risk category than socket covers inserted correctly.
I will include in my paper your concerns.
If you have any further comments they would be welcome.

 

[ferg]

I advise people to bin these things and point them to the site.
The really annoying thing is that the people who buy them are doing it for the right reasons and I cant fault joe public for buying them.
The people who are selling them should know better and are ultimately responsible.


It would be interesting to know how may accidents these socket covers are claiming to prevent, if any, and what the overall effect is. I.E. do they cause more accidents than they prevent.

 

[grandfortune]

read post above, not 1 Accident reported, ive got to admit i hate the bloody thinks but with no accidents and preventing children plugging in potential dangerous items i can see a need for them.

 

[FatallyFlawed]

read post above, not 1 Accident reported, ive got to admit i hate the bloody thinks but with no accidents and preventing children plugging in potential dangerous items i can see a need for them.

Firstly, please remember that socket fires which follow the use of a cover with oversized pins will never appear in statistics as having been caused by the use of a socket covers, because, by definition, the socket cover will not be present when the fire occurs!

Secondly, the problem with the idea that plug-in covers prevent children plugging in potential dangerous items, as we have shown, plug-in covers are often easy for children to remove.

Clippasafe claim on their website that covers “will prevent children from plugging in electrical items such as heaters and hair straighteners”. But, the Clippasafe type, also sold under the Boots and John Lewis brands, is“easily removed from the socket by inserting the plug you need to use” (Clippasafe’s own description of their product) so the suggestion that it can prevent children plugging in a dangerous device is clearly absolute nonsense!

To act as prevention against the use of dangerous appliances, plug-in socket covers would need to meet the following criteria:

​

• 
  [*=left]Covers would need to be very difficult to remove by children possessing the skills to insert a plug. There are no such plug-in covers on the market.
  
  [*=left]Covers would need to be demonstrably safe and not compromise the safety features of BS 1363 sockets. There are no such plug-in covers on the market.
  
  [*=left]Covers would need to made to the correct dimensions of a BS 1363 plug, to ensure that they did not cause damage to sockets. There are no such plug-in covers on the market.
  
  [*=left]If covers meeting the above criteria were available then, to be effective, they would need to be used in every socket which was within reach of a child. This includes those sockets which would normally have plugs inserted into them, as clearly the plug of another appliance is not difficult for the child to remove.
  [*=left]

A recent study by The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow looked at severe burns caused by children handling hair straighteners. The statistics revealed that, in the majority of cases, the burns were caused by appliances which had already been turned off and left to cool, not as a result of children plugging them in!

This is a comment posted on a baby discussion forum in December 2010: “Dainton (17 months) has learnt how to get socket covers off: he then goes in the kitchen pulls my iron out the cupboard and plugs it in!!!!! Thank god I caught him! Lil monkey”

The big problem with suggesting that socket covers have a role to play in preventing children from being harmed by dangerous appliances is that it detracts from the only sensible message: Parents and carers should ensure that ALL dangerous appliances are kept beyond the reach of children.
​

The bottom line is:
Safety is designed into UK sockets - plug in covers reduce safety!​

 

[grandfortune]

Thanks FF i will pass this on

 

[FoxySparky]

How can i Post this on facebook please, have many friends with kids who do not believe me about this.

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How can i Post this on facebook please, have many friends with kids who do not believe me about this.

 

[sparky-s-w]

hi, i've not read all the threads on here but i've read the info on the link. i had real trouble convincing the wife about this, even after showing her the link. its so ingrained in peoples mindes that they are safe. however as i don the trousers i forbade her to use them:smilewinkgrin:.

i digress, her indoors is a comunity midwife, on her visits to variouse doc surgeries/clinics she noticed they have these in stock and actually hand them out to new parents.

so i sent an email with the link to the practice managers who have forwarded it to NHS managers

 

[spark161]

Very interesting, thanks. I like others didn't pay much attention to them partly because I had the obviously mistaken belief that anything sold as a safety device in this country had to undergo stringent checks to ensure that it does indeed provide additional safety. How can whoever tests these items have missed such a glaringly dangerous issue as the upside down one?

 

[trev]

Just a thought but has anyone publicised the campaign to the TV companies, with the right approach this could be huge.

 

[ickleant]

Trev has a good point even a short email to the local news papers can get the issue snowballing into a much larger campaign

 

[Yirenkyi Samuel]

Re: A reminder to everyone

Good work Tony,please keep this up!

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Good work Tony,please keep this up!

 

[Yirenkyi Samuel]

Good idea!