Interestingly, over the years I have spoken to several folk who have either had a belt from a lamp holder or know someone who has, so I think it is quite a common childhood shock mechanism, this encompasses folk who are now well and truly retired, and some young children, so the UK lampholder has been biting people for probably a century or so (*).
But equally I don't know of anyone being killed by it, which I guess is something. The contact area is limited and it is likely to be a finger to finger shock, at least in a dry location like a bedroom with no large bath tub to stand in. I'm not saying it's a good thing mind you, just that both in theory, and seemingly in practice, it is a relatively survivable event.
There are lampholder designs that only liven up the pins once the lamp is in postion, though the only ones I have seen have been pretty badly made. Ideally, perhaps that should have been incorporated into the standards when the shuttered sockets and sleeved pins came in for plugs, at least for table lamps, and no-one would question it by now, but that horse has rather bolted.
I suspect there will be no further change to the UK lampholder BS until eventually it falls into disuse in favour of things with LEDs and no bulb as such to replace, which will probably be many years in the future. (some of the lamp holders in my house are certainly originals from about the late 1960s to 1970, and I supect they are not alone. )
* EDIT More like 130 years then; Though this text book from 1885 shows an early design of bayonet lampholder with a little circular cover disk to protect the contacts when no lamp is inserted. So clearly that got optimsed away when the bayonet fixing design went into mass production.
Interestingly, over the years I have spoken to several folk who have either had a belt from a lamp holder or know someone who has, so I think it is quite a common childhood shock mechanism, this encompasses folk who are now well and truly retired, and some young children, so the UK lampholder has been biting people for probably a century or so (*).
But equally I don't know of anyone being killed by it, which I guess is something. The contact area is limited and it is likely to be a finger to finger shock, at least in a dry location like a bedroom with no large bath tub to stand in. I'm not saying it's a good thing mind you, just that both in theory, and seemingly in practice, it is a relatively survivable event.
There are lampholder designs that only liven up the pins once the lamp is in postion, though the only ones I have seen have been pretty badly made. Ideally, perhaps that should have been incorporated into the standards when the shuttered sockets and sleeved pins came in for plugs, at least for table lamps, and no-one would question it by now, but that horse has rather bolted.
I suspect there will be no further change to the UK lampholder BS until eventually it falls into disuse in favour of things with LEDs and no bulb as such to replace, which will probably be many years in the future. (some of the lamp holders in my house are certainly originals from about the late 1960s to 1970, and I supect they are not alone. )
* EDIT More like 130 years then; Though this text book from 1885 shows an early design of bayonet lampholder with a little circular cover disk to protect the contacts when no lamp is inserted. So clearly that got optimsed away when the bayonet fixing design went into mass production.
