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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.
“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
The following quotes are taken from discussions of this site on various web forums:
“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!”
“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.”
“Most children are intuitive enough to find ways of taking them off anyway, so I've never seen much point in them.”
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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