Plug socket covers may be 'waste of money' Which? tests reveal plug socket safety cover risks
24 September 2009
Which? believes plug socket covers designed to stop children putting their fingers in electrical wall sockets may be a waste of money.
Which? tests showed that, in a worst case scenario, some could actually increase the risk of your child being electrocuted.
Plug covers are designed to prevent children from accessing a plug socket’s live terminals. But all British plug sockets, by law, have safety shutters that do this. And in tough Which? safety tests on 12 brands of socket covers found that some may be too easy to remove, even for a child.
Which? has reviewed hundred of , including Which? Best Buy child car seats, pushchairs baby monitors and stair gates. You can also read our online guides to baby equipment and baby safety equipment.
Child safety plug covers
If a young child removes a cover, it’s possible that they could replace it upside down, opening the socket’s safety shutters and allowing access to the live terminals.
If you do want to use covers, choose one of the four brands that our tests revealed were extremely difficult to remove. The others could be removed with varying degrees of difficulty. Our child safety expert found the Upsy Daisy covers easiest to remove – they were quite loose with easy-to-grip edges.
The Mothercare and Safe Tots covers were very difficult to remove – but our expert thought a child could prise them off by poking something under the holes in the design.
Plug covers that were difficult to remove in Which? tests
- Clippasafe (four for £1.99),
- Boots (four for £2.94),
- John Lewis (six for £2.50),
- Red/Grey Electrical (four for £1.99)
Plug covers that were easier to remove in Which? tests
- Emmay Care
- Lindham
- Maxim Electrical
- Mercury Telecraft
- Mothercare
- Power Plus
- Safe Tots
- Tulka
- Upsy Daisy
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