> I'm assuming that's also part of the building code over there?

not that I know

> Generally most people over here, who have small children, plug covers
> into unused outlets. They stick in there pretty tightly and I'm sure
> they help. However, this will do nothing to prevent a child 
> from pulling
> a cord out of an outlet and then sticking something in. The fact that
> our outlets aren't recessed make things even worse since a plug can be
> part ways out of an outlet and yet still be in electrical contact.

Our newer plugs are all half isolated half metal, so when the plug is
plugged in deep enough to make contact you can't touch the metal any
more. This defeats my trick (IIRC 5y old): take a curtain hanger wire
piece, it is S-shaped, the bends are exactly at plug-pin distance, put
it the plug pins for which it seems to be designed, and plug in.

We use a lot of stick-on outlet protectors, which require that you push
the plug into the 1mm depth of the protector holes, turn 90 degress
(sorry, don't know the imperial equivalent) and the press through into
the outlet itself.

> Is a house wide GFCI common in all of Europe?

I don't even know what it is.

Wouter van Ooijen

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