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

[Knobhead]

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

Seen e'm, a bloody disgrace they get on the market.

 

[24pack]

Thanx 4 the info,just printed sheet off,will copy them and pass them on to make people aware of this problem.

 

[PVKitsDirect]

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.

 

[John81]

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

 

[ADB57]

This is a very useful thread, tks

 

[seftonbarn]

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?

 

[Knobhead]

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.

 

[seftonbarn]

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.

So are you saying that these should be noted as an observation? And if so which code?

 

[Knobhead]

So are you saying that these should be noted as an observation? And if so which code?

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.

 

[seftonbarn]

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.

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.

 

[Knobhead]

If you look on the Fatally Flawed web site you will find more information. As I said they are classified as a “TOY”. Stupid but true!

So at the end of the day all you can do as an electrician is recommend their removal.

OFSTED just dither and will not make a positive decision regarding their removal from nurseries and schools, it’s down the owners to make the decision.

 

[kerv]

Already banned them from our house when our eldest arrived three years ago, just thought they were pointless. Didn't realise just how dangerous they were. I'll remember to check if they are using them at our kids pre school.

 

[MikeP]

The British Standard is more than sufficient, these "safety covers" are just an attempt to create a market by instilling fear and doubt in the consumer's mind.
Such a practice is prohibited in some situations, as it should be in this instance

Mikep

 

[seftonbarn]

If you look on the Fatally Flawed web site you will find more information. As I said they are classified as a “TOY”. Stupid but true!

So at the end of the day all you can do as an electrician is recommend their removal.

OFSTED just dither and will not make a positive decision regarding their removal from nurseries and schools, it’s down the owners to make the decision.

So you go into a nursery to do a periodic and you find a toy jammed into every socket outlet; and you're going to leave that site with no more than a recommendation.

 

[Knobhead]

So you go into a nursery to do a periodic and you find a toy jammed into every socket outlet; and you're going to leave that site with no more than a recommendation.

I’m sorry but please don’t shoot the messenger, I didn’t make up the regulations.

If I had my way there would be legislation against them. But it’s up the higher powers than us mere mortals to get off their fat arses to make a decision. The IET are aware of the problem, but……….

I’ve been against them since my son was born 27 years ago, my brother, also an electrical engineer even bought some for us. He was offended when I threw them in the bin until I showed him the problems with them. He removed them as soon as he got home. There again he was a cheapskate and had fitted Crabtree sockets in his house, were I’d fitted MK. I defy anyone to push something in the a MK socket with the cam shutters. Even for someone with the knowledge of how they work it isn’t easy.

I’m just trying to be the messenger, as I hope you and others will be.

 

[Grantb]

With all the evidence compiled in such a professional idiot proof format how can the government still allow these ridiculously dangerous pieces of plastic to be sold in the uk?

 

[Knobhead]

We can only campaign against them for now. But as time passes we may make progress. The big problem is TIME!

I’m sorry but at the moment it’s the best I / we can offer.

 

[simpson93]

was looking at a relatives house where there was a child and i explained to them about this fatally flawed campaign, yet they insisted they were more protective. they then told me to try and take them off and it really did take a load of force to pull it out, much more then a child would be able to do anyways.

 

[FatallyFlawed]

was looking at a relatives house where there was a child and i explained to them about this fatally flawed campaign, yet they insisted they were more protective. they then told me to try and take them off and it really did take a load of force to pull it out, much more then a child would be able to do anyways.

It is common for parents to report that small children can remove socket covers much more easily than they can themselves. there are a number of examples of this on our user comments page.

Because plugs have tightly specified dimensions, the force required to insert and remove them is really a function of the design of the socket and its contacts. However, because no socket covers are made to the correct dimensions of a plug then it is common for them to be either significantly easier to remove or significantly harder, depending on the particular combination of socket cover and socket. If the socket cover takes a lot of force to remove then that is a good indicator of a cover which has oversize and/or incorrectly spaced pins, both of which can cause permanent damage to a socket!

Parents tend to think that a hard to remove cover is a good thing, they find it difficult to understand that it probably means they have caused damage.

The Electrical Safety Council has published a leaflet warning about incorrectly sized pins on sub-standard chargers, this says: "If the charger does not easily plug into a socket, the pins may be the wrong size or length, or the distance between the pins may be wrong. If pins do not fit properly into the socket, overheating, arcing and mechanical damage can occur to both the socket and the charger, which can be dangerous." Strangely the ESC are unconcerned about incorrectly sized pins on socket covers, even though the potential for mechanical damage (and therefore subsequent poor contacts) is exactly the same!

 

[UNG]

There again he was a cheapskate and had fitted Crabtree sockets in his house, were I’d fitted MK. I defy anyone to push something in the a MK socket with the cam shutters. Even for someone with the knowledge of how they work it isn’t easy.

I assume by cam shutters you are referring to the sockets that had the twisting shutters on the L & N if so they were that good that a HTM was issued highlighting safety issues with them and they were banned from health authority sites in favour of Crabtree, the issue being that you could insert a 2 pin plug and for that matter a 3 pin plug with a missing or broken earth pin or a continental shuko type plug. Hence why MK returned to the original shutter type