1. (NU) - Sponsored News - It
happens more often than we like
to think.
Nearly seven times a day, some
young child is rushed to the emer-
gency room after being burned --
or worse -- from having stuck
something as innocuous as a pa-
perclip into an electrical outlet, ac-
cording to the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Commission.
Ah, but being the diligent par-
ent you are, you’re sure those plas-
tic outlet caps you installed for
childproofing purposes will keep
your own kids safe, right?
Not so fast.
A study conducted by Tem-
ple University found that it took
less than 10 seconds for 100
percent of children ages 2 to 4
to remove them from sockets.
And that should scare you for an
additional reason.
“It poses a choking hazard for
small children,” says Brett Bren-
ner, president of the nonprofit
Electrical Safety Foundation In-
ternational (Esfi.org), which pro-
motes electrical safety in homes
and workplaces. “And because
plastic caps do need to be removed
for the outlet to be functional,
there’s the inherent safety threat of
forgetting to recover the outlet
when it’s no longer in use.”
Brenner, as it turns out, also
has a problem with the less-pop-
ular sliding receptacle covers.
“They’re no match for the im-
pressionable minds of children,
who can learn to defeat the de-
vices by watching their parents
plug objects into them.”
So what does he recommend?
The same technology -- called tam-
per-resistant receptacles -- was
deemed so effective that it’s actu-
ally been required in hospital pe-
diatric care facilities for more than
20 years. But it remained some-
thing of a trade secret until its use
was finally mandated in all new
home construction under the Na-
tional Electrical Code in 2008.
To look at them, TRRs appear
to be ordinary outlets -- a blessing
for those who consider plastic caps
a bit of an eyesore -- but they’re
specifically designed with spring-
loaded receptacle cover plates that
close off all openings or slots.
Only by simultaneously applying
pressure to both sides do the cov-
er plates open to allow standard
plugs to make contact with the re-
ceptacle contact points.
“Without that simultaneous
pressure,” Brenner explains,
“the cover plates remain closed,
preventing the insertion of for-
eign objects and thus protect-
ing children from painful, trau-
matic electrical injuries.”
The best part may be that
the added safety will only run
you 50 cents more than a stan-
dard electrical outlet, though
TRRs should only be installed
by a licensed electrician.
But getting back to that
opening U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission statistic --
know that of those nearly seven
children a day:
• 89 percent are under 6
years old.
• 50 percent are 2 to 3 years old
-- the highest risk group.
• Boys are most at risk, re-
gardless of age.
Definitely not something we
like to think about.
IsYour HomeAs
ChildproofedAsYou Think?
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NewsUSA
The latest thinking is that
popular plastic outlet caps
aren’t enough to protect
small children.
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