Outlet Protectors
June 25th, 2006
Outlet protector
I mentioned safety yesterday while I was discussing my son's birthday, which reminded me of one of my least favorite "child security" items: those plastic outlet plug protectors. These devices are dubious at best, and here are some of my personal statistics to back this up:
- 1: Number of times one of my children attempt to place something dangerous in an unprotected outlet.
- 30: Number of times one of my children has miraculously removed the outlet protector and stuck it in his mouth, thus causing a choking hazard.
- 0: Number of times I have been able to remove an outlet protector on my own.
Usually, I cannot remove that outlet protector to save my life. I am forced to use something to pry it away from the outlet, and 95% of the time that object is a metal knife. This makes me feel extremely safe. I raise my eyebrow to any "safety" item that prevents a nonexistant problem, causes a separate safety hazard, and places me in a high-risk safety hazard on a regular basis.
June 26th, 2006 at 9:40
Just wanted to give a safety tip. You should at least give up the knife to remove the safety cover. Just use the prong of the the plug you are trying to put in there. Works well on the edge that has a slight lip to pry it open.
Those things are a pain though.