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We invite people with experience of “safety socket covers” to contact us with their stories. Please send to the address listed on the contacts page.
"I'm just grateful that my husband understood enough about sockets to know that they are safer without covers, so we have never had any (my oldest child has just turned 4 years old and my youngest is 2 years old). I do remember my own parents used them when I was younger and I used to regularly play with them to see which covers I could fit in which sockets the wrong way around. I even remember that one of them had a melted pin but that is probably more of a reflection of the wiring in the old house that I grew up in rather than the safety cover!”
Wendy Shippam, Founder of friendlybaby.co.uk (a supplier of real nappies, and natural and eco baby products)
“As a designer I have always known (since my first child was born) that these were a complete waste of time and a potential hazard to children in several ways. I wrote to RoSPA regarding my concerns about 4-5 years ago. Their reply acknowledged that they were unnecessary. However, their view was that encouraging people to use them was a useful cue to those who had small children around the home to think about safety! This makes an absolute nonsense of the whole (otherwise sensible) notion of risk assessment. RoSPA would be better employed publicising the benefits of BS1363 as well as singing the praises of the BS technical committee that drafted the original standard back in the 1940s.”
Richard Irving
“We have a 9 month old baby. Our first child is nearly six. There is one double socket in the house that is accessible to the crawling 9-month-old, which my wife decided last week to put a pair of safety socket covers on (she’d received these in a pack from some baby group). When I got home from work, the 6-year-old had taken one of the safety socket covers out, and put it in "upside down", opening the shutters and leaving direct access to the live terminals for small objects – lucky I noticed before the baby put something in. The covers are now in the bin and we are contacting the baby group involved.”
Grahame Kenyon CEng MIEE MIET, Chartered Electrical Engineer and parent (Lancashire)
“I witness on a daily basis children’s inquisitiveness and their underestimated strength and ability. I have encountered incidents where children have proved that their strength far outweighs the strength we may credit them with. We may consider it too tough, too tricky, for a small child to remove these socket covers, however, I have observed children employ a number of innovative schemes and techniques in order to move, reach or release things which then allow for their further experimentation.”
“Think of all those early learning toys which encourage children to try to fit different shaped objects into different shaped holes, boxes with holes in them, peg and hammer games and jigsaws. Children are actively encouraged to experiment with the different ways round things can go. What then might seem more appealing to a child encountering a covered socket than to experiment with sticking the pins of a plug socket cover into the socket in different ways.”
Caroline, Qualified Nursery Nurse. (Scotland)
“On enquiring with a reputable highstreet outlet, who provided socket outlet covers under their own brand-name, what CE-mark had been applied for, I was told it was the Toy Safety Directive, that the covers contain nothing toxic for children, and that no tests of the electrical insulating properties or fire-retardance were carried out. Clearly, it’s expected that children will lick socket outlet covers!”
Grahame Kenyon CEng MIEE MIET, Chartered Electrical Engineer and parent (Lancashire)
“As a domestic cleaner I often find plug covers on floors below unused sockets. On occasions a young child will volunteer their 'help' with the housework which usually involves dusting and tidying! Realising that this may lead to a child attempting to return a plug cover into a socket, has alerted me to the potential danger that this child would be in. I will now be advising my clients and co-workers of this website.”
Rosemary Kerr, Professional Charwoman, Edinburgh
“I recently carried out a periodic inspection of an electrical installation on a building which had a hall used for a children’s play group. I carried out an inspection and test of the sockets which were installed around the hall. The sockets had been fitted with plastic “safety” socket covers. I had to extract these to test the socket with an instrument. I noticed one socket cover was broken leaving the left hand socket shutter open and exposed to touch. When I extracted the socket cover I found the plastic earth pin had broken off in the socket leaving both shutters open with now exposed live parts, this is a dangerous condition. I repaired the socket and left it in a safe condition. I advised the person in charge of the premises to plug these plug covers in to the nearest dustbin”
John Peckham, Astute Technical Services, Essex
The following quotes are taken from discussions of this site on various web forums:
“emmay plug socket covers are rubbish, (my 10 month old son) has been pulling them out of the sockets all morning”
“I have an autistic son and he can really easily remove these covers and has done from a very early age.”
“I have never used them with my 2 because friends have had children as young as 5 months pick them off, and find them an attractive toy.”
“All my children could get the blasted socket covers out, whereas I struggled to prise the darned things out. TBH, never have used them much anyway - especially when I realised the kids could get them out (and yes they tried reinserting them the wrong way up) and they appeared to be more of an attraction than deterrent.”
“My son has mastered how to get the socket covers off the sockets!”
“From working in a nursery I discovered that it doesn't take long for children to discover how to prise them out anyway, making it even more dangerous as they now have a "tool" to open the safety flap with.”
“What got me wondering about this subject was something that happened to me recently. We had a load of Clippasafe covers given to us which we've been using for a while, and when trying to remove one, I snapped it. The earth "pin" of the cover is now stuck in the socket, and as a result - the shutters behind the live & neutral holes are open.”
“Never used them for any of mine they were just told no not to touch them. If you remove things the first thing a child will do when you put them back is go and investigate so there really is little point.”
“When I was about 3 I got a shock trying to remove a 13A plug from the socket by levering it out with a spoon (it was the old type of plug without shielded pins) and was lucky enough to be thrown clear by the shock.
The reason I was doing this was because I had seen someone doing the same with one of the plastic plug protectors that we are discussing!”
“I have twice seen these safety covers used as actual plugs by ne-er do well idiots - wrapping the live & neutral around the plastic pins and forcing them in - all because they couldn't be bothered to fit a plug!!”
“I used to test plugs and sockets for the Electrical Research Association (ERA) in Leatherhead ( my first real job) and I agree British plugs are the safest in the world - these covers are a danger I have never allowed their use for my two kids.”
“They're rubbish. My ds never looked at plug sockets until I bought some. The covers made sockets look like toys, he thought it was a novelty shape sorter. It took about 10 minutes for him to work out how to get them out.“
“I bought some of them covers with my first but he pulled them out! When they weren’t in he didn’t even notice the plug sockets so it was so much safer to not have them in anyways!”
“We had the boots ones, and I struggled to get them out, then Cally (13 months) came over and gave me one that she had taken out.”
“We haven't used them for a while because she (11 months) can get them out without any bother and crawls round with them in her mouth.”
“We use them, but the other week my baby managed to take one of them out.”
“I've always been a bit lazy about them, Rhys (3yrs) and Aaron (2yrs) can easily take them out but I have some in the boys' room which will be taken out before they wake up! “
“I have socket covers in some plugs but Jacob is now old enough to take them out and put them in and whilst I was in Bathroom last week and boys were playing upstairs Jacob (3yrs) had removed the cover from the socket on landing and was showing Thomas (12 months) to put it back in.”
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My dad was an electrician and he always said they were more dangerous as they push in the safety device”
“Most children are intuitive enough to find ways of taking them off anyway, so I've never seen much point in them.”
“I read the reports & when our kitchen was re-wired recently I asked the electrician about it. He agreed with the report & I now don't use socket covers.”
“Something that gives a false sense of security is worse than not having it.”
“I never came across these very often when working as a Health and Safety Inspector, they are marketed for domestic use - but for some reason they were very popular in Community Centre-type buildings, where misguided people would rush out to spend money on them. Quickest route to getting rid of them was to seize them. No-one ever appealed against their seizure, for one thing, they are self evidently not as good as the original socket safety system once people take the time to look at how that works.”
Watch the videos showing how easily crawling babies can remove a socket cover!
The bottom line is:
Safety is designed into UK sockets - plug in covers reduce safety!
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