South Africa bans switched sockets to improve safety.

The first link on this thread reads to me like something written by a business person with a mission to reduce raw material consumption, under the subterfuge of safety, rather than something written by an electrical engineer. There is certainly plenty  of "dumming-down".


I  saw this type of plug and socket when I was in Brazil a couple of years ago. (Fortunately the hotel was able to loan an adaptor for my trusty BS1363 plugs. No adaptor I had brought with  me was any good.) It does have a good safety point in that the socket has a deep recess so there is little risk of touching live, partially-inserted pins. That is about as far as the positive goes. It is not  fused, so if the appliance goes faulty it takes out the  entire sub-circuit.


I disagree that a switch makes the power socket more dangerous. I don't encourage people to insert or remove plugs with the socket switched on. It can sometimes be convenient to switch an appliance on or off at the socket leaving it plugged in. It is worth mentioning that sometime in the 1940s (maybe earlier) Crabtree brought out an interlocked plug and socket system based on the BS646 (round pin) standard, whereby a plug could not be inserted or removed with the switch on. It implemented this by having a "narrow section" on the earth pin which the switch mechanism latched into. A good idea, and compatible with ordinary plugs but it did not catch on.


There is mention of shutters that only open when the two "live" (sic - I presume this really means live and neutral) pins are inserted simultaneously. This is also a good idea and works also with two-pin plugs where applicable. MK implemented this  idea on on BS1363 sockets many years ago and other manufacturers have done the same. Our BS1363 plugs are now made with  shrouded pins to avoid the risk of touching live pins partially inserted. This idea is nothing new either; it was implemented on the Crabtree interlocked plugs.


In short, it is perfectly possible to enhance safety standards without completely replacing an established standard and all the chaos that that will create. I'm glad I  don't live in South Africa.

The first link on this thread reads to me like something written by a business person with a mission to reduce raw material consumption, under the subterfuge of safety, rather than something written by an electrical engineer. There is certainly plenty  of "dumming-down".


I  saw this type of plug and socket when I was in Brazil a couple of years ago. (Fortunately the hotel was able to loan an adaptor for my trusty BS1363 plugs. No adaptor I had brought with  me was any good.) It does have a good safety point in that the socket has a deep recess so there is little risk of touching live, partially-inserted pins. That is about as far as the positive goes. It is not  fused, so if the appliance goes faulty it takes out the  entire sub-circuit.


I disagree that a switch makes the power socket more dangerous. I don't encourage people to insert or remove plugs with the socket switched on. It can sometimes be convenient to switch an appliance on or off at the socket leaving it plugged in. It is worth mentioning that sometime in the 1940s (maybe earlier) Crabtree brought out an interlocked plug and socket system based on the BS646 (round pin) standard, whereby a plug could not be inserted or removed with the switch on. It implemented this by having a "narrow section" on the earth pin which the switch mechanism latched into. A good idea, and compatible with ordinary plugs but it did not catch on.


There is mention of shutters that only open when the two "live" (sic - I presume this really means live and neutral) pins are inserted simultaneously. This is also a good idea and works also with two-pin plugs where applicable. MK implemented this  idea on on BS1363 sockets many years ago and other manufacturers have done the same. Our BS1363 plugs are now made with  shrouded pins to avoid the risk of touching live pins partially inserted. This idea is nothing new either; it was implemented on the Crabtree interlocked plugs.


In short, it is perfectly possible to enhance safety standards without completely replacing an established standard and all the chaos that that will create. I'm glad I  don't live in South Africa.