Socket covers

**sarah707** · 27-04-2009, 06:55 PM

I have just asked Ofsted what their current position is regarding whether or not we should use socket covers.

This is their reply.

I hope it helps you if you are trying to decide whether to get rid of yours or not.

Dear Ms xxx,

Thank you for your e-mail.

In response to your enquiry Ofsted neither recommends nor prohibits the use of socket covers; instead we look at how registered providers ensure their premises are as safe as possible for children.

It is for the provider to decide as part of the risk assessment they carry out at their premises how best to protect children from dangers associated with electric sockets and appliances.

Providers may wish to consult the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (ROSPA) and Child Accident Protection Trust websites for information to help them make a decision about the use of socket covers.

I hope you find this information helpful. However should you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards

Charlotte Woolstencroft

Customer Service Advisor

**christine e** · 27-04-2009, 06:59 PM

Thanks Sarah

Cx

**Spangles** · 27-04-2009, 07:03 PM

The usual slopey shoulder syndrome then?

Ta Sarah.

x

**Hebs** · 27-04-2009, 07:04 PM

in other words

damned if you do, damned if you don't depending on who does your inspection

**angeldelight** · 27-04-2009, 07:09 PM

Nothing that we did not already know then

Angel xx

**georgie456** · 27-04-2009, 07:28 PM

Thanks for posting that Sarah....sounds like it will depend on who you get on the day and what they think of them doesn't it?!

**Daftbat** · 27-04-2009, 07:56 PM

I don't think it is a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario.

As they have said above it is up to the individual under their risk assessing to determine the safety precautions around electrical socekts etc. People are entitled to look at the available information regarding these covers and decide whether they use them or not.

If, as i do, the person decides not to use them then, as with any other decision made, it has to have a clear foundation in fact and good evidence to back it up.

I think that the video and written evidence regarding these covers is adequate to support my decision not to use them.

**Hebs** · 27-04-2009, 07:58 PM

yes but if your inspector believes they are the safest option then you will get pulled up on it,

so yes catch 22

**Daftbat** · 27-04-2009, 08:04 PM

The thing is it can be proven. What the inspector "believes" has to be proven too so there is every right to appeal and i would do so.

TheBTeam · 27-04-2009, 08:18 PM

My risk assessment is such that i do not have socket covers in the two plugs behind my dining room table, i do not allow children to play under their because the chairs are heavy and can fall, if they were to go under there it may well be to pull the socket covers out and they could well do as in the video poking stuff in to a socket with the cover half out, this is more dangerous than any risk if the socket was left with its own safety measures.

I do however have one in the plug next to my bookcase, for the simple reason the larger books that are on the floor in the gap next to the wall, encourage children to pull books out, the socket looks far less attractive with the cover in because it hardly shows against the white wall, whereas the holes in the socket would stand out and potentially be an attraction to any child pulling a book out.

I have risk assessed each socket and have come up with two different decisions and i would question any inspector who found fault with that!!!

Bet one does, will remember to post when it happens

**nokidshere** · 27-04-2009, 08:22 PM

Risk assessment is not about what your inspector believes but about how you have made your home as safe as you can for the children using it.

TheBTeam · 27-04-2009, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by nokidshere

Risk assessment is not about what your inspector believes but about how you have made your home as safe as you can for the children using it.

I agree, but as you said in the risk assessment thread, we have to play the game, our life is in the inspectors hands so to speak, and we can argue our case till we are blue in the face, what they say is how we are graded, which is why it is a pain when across the country, and indeed the county their advice and opinions on stuff differ so greatly, and their interpretation of what is written in their own guidance and the legislation!

**Demonjill** · 27-04-2009, 09:07 PM

Surely as the email states that they neither recommend nor prohibit then they cant "pull you up on it" especially if you have risk assessed either way. They could only mark you down if they said you must have them legally and you dont put them in place. I personally am not going to use socket covers I never have for my children and they have never been even remotely curious.

**Nix** · 03-05-2009, 04:54 PM

I think I've missed something here...sorry.

Are socket covers now considered dangerous

**sarah707** · 03-05-2009, 05:28 PM

Originally Posted by Nix

I think I've missed something here...sorry.

Are socket covers now considered dangerous

Have you see this website?

http://www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/

**Blaze** · 03-05-2009, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by hebs

in other words

damned if you do, damned if you don't depending on who does your inspection

I forgot to say when I had the inspector out the other week to look at my new house I said about socket covers & she said that she would pull up a cm without them...even though i showed her the link she didn't feel that that was adequate & that as long as the provider had make sure the socket covers fitted snuggly then the link wasn't at all applicable!

**sarah707** · 04-05-2009, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by Blaze

I forgot to say when I had the inspector out the other week to look at my new house I said about socket covers & she said that she would pull up a cm without them...even though i showed her the link she didn't feel that that was adequate & that as long as the provider had make sure the socket covers fitted snuggly then the link wasn't at all applicable!

Yes I know and this is always going to be the problem isn't it?

It's all well and good Ofsted saying we should write RAs and follow advice ...

I do wish they would tell their inspectors!

**Marion7** · 04-05-2009, 08:54 AM

Have just spent the majority of the weekend doing my risk assessments then come and read this!

Hmmm
Don't think I'll change what I've written though and I do use socket covers on all unused power sources, surely if you've thought about what you're doing and considered the children in your care that's as much as is possible.
I've never had a child that's been interested in sockets - but perhaps would change it all if I did!