Hi All we use covers in the childrens area someone has pointed out that they are not protective are not safe and pose a massive risk they have read this site http://www.fatallyflawed.org.uk/ what would you do are they safe to use or not

A risk, yes -but not a massive one. The debate centres on the logic of defeating the built-in safety shutters in our electrical sockets by inserting a plastic dummy plug. The Electrical Safety Council (as I recall) published a balanced-view statement which is worthy of adoption. Part of the problem perhaps is that those who regulate the Industry (child care) may still be insisting these things are fitted. IMHO they offer only a false sense of security and are no substitute for supervision. Far better of course to relocate the sockets in these areas.

I believe the IET and ESC are in accord. I have a copy here of: Electrical Safety Council Policy Statement: Child Safety - Socket Blanking Plugs Issue Date: June 2008 which states: "In the opinion of the Electrical Safety Council, there is no "significant risk" to children from 13 Amp socket-outlets fully conforming to the product standard BS 1363. Having integral safety shutters, they are widely judged to be of the safest design currently installed in Europe, and the Electrical Safety Council is not aware of any incident data to suggest that there is any real or potential problem with this type of socket-outlet. This position has also been taken by the BSI technical committee responsible for BS 1363. It is arguable that fitting a blanking plug into a socket-outlet will reduce the risk of electric shock to a child even further, since it will make access to electricity even more difficult. Whether it is justifiable to require their use in certain environments is less clear. There is always some risk of electric shock with any electrical equipment and the decision on how much risk is acceptable is ultimately subjective. Absolute safety can be achieved only by the permanent removal of the electricity supply. Babies and toddlers are inherently risk-prone and should never be left unattended and allowed to 'play' with socket-outlets. Eternal vigilance is the only reliable safeguard in this respect, as is the case with any other potential (and frequently much greater) hazard that they might encounter."

At the end of the day, whatever we do electrical systems will always provide inherent levels of risk. I have the physical scars from inserting one of my mums hair pins into a BS 13A socket so they are not fool proof. But I can see the dangers of poor quality safety devices that are also out there. If you want to stop access into a socket then I'd have thought a cover more like those for outside sockets with some sort of lock seperate for the electrical contacts would be the way to go? They'd form a permament part of the socket unit but would be more secure. Are there such a thing?

Save your money :-) And that is from someone who works in the field of electrical safety. Look after the child, put him/her in a play pen etc. Come to think of it, some electricians should be kept away from socket outlets!