An electrician from Bristol in the UK has issued a warning to parents about plug socket covers, claiming they are more dangerous than leaving sockets exposed.

Steve Palmer from JPS Electrical Services in Bristol has urged parents to throw away plug socket covers saying they are “horrible” and “unsafe” for children.

Palmer’s video warning, which he uploaded to Facebook, has gone viral after he exhibited how dangerous the so called safety devices could be. The video which has been viewed over one million times shows how the socket plugs could expose children to a 230V current.

In the video, the father of five demonstrated how easily his sons, Jayden and Preston aged one and three respectively were able to remove and replace the covers.

He believes that you don’t need to cover the plug sockets to make it safe, and by covering them he says “In fact, what you are actually doing, is giving your child a tool that will allow them to open up the live conductors.”

Standard sockets with no covers are actually safe as they are. “These sockets go through vigorous testing to make sure that they are safe,” he says.

Steve claims you don’t need to cover the socket to make it safe. (Picture iStockphoto)

He explains the general mechanics of a plug socket and shows that once the top pin socket is engaged it can open up the live pin socket and exposes a potentially strong current of up to 230 volts. Using safety equipment he shows the various ways and angles you can poke into a socket.

He tells viewers that his sons use the plug socket covers “like a jigsaw” and if the power is switched on and they have opened the top pin in the socket it could have serious implications.

He demonstrated that it is possible to plug the covers in upside down, and by doing so that he is still able to reach the plug’s live conductors at that angle. “It could stay like that for days, weeks, possibly even a month, in which time your child has found something small and conductive, perhaps metal and they’ve come along and put it in the socket,” he warns.

“These things are a tool for your child to cause some serious harm to themself. Chances are it might not happen but why live in ifs, buts and maybes?” he pleads.

ewmums.com

We all want what is best for our children, and we all take safety precautions in the home to ‘child proof’ our houses. I’m sure most of you at some point or another have used or in fact still do use plug socket covers.

Are you worried by Steve’s findings? I certainly think he has demonstrated some very valid issues and has caused a lot of people to rethink the whole idea of using socket covers.

As a final note he says “These horrible, unsafe socket covers need to go in the bin.”

I think the bottom line here is to keep an eye on your little ones especially when they are playing around anything electrical. And we all know children are drawn to sockets and sticking their fingers in things so just be mindful.

You can find the video here: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristolian-electrician-urges-parents-bin-812543