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Comment by zuppy | Hacker News Reader

this is not an issue in Europe. what kind of plugs do you use in Singapore? the EU plug doesn't let you get shocked when pulling the cord. i am willing to bet it's because of that, not because of 220 vs 110. it has never been an issue in my life and i don't get shocked ... ever.

edit: after a quick research i thing the reason is the socket: https://www.everyworks.com/reasons-why-your-singapore-electr... we don't use this, we have a small hole inside ours and it's impossible to touch the live while the plug is connected

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Apparently they use british Type G plugs. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#/me... )

after a quick research, i think it's the socket not the plug, it's easier to touch the live wire if the socket is flat.

edit: can't reply to the child comments, maybe there's a time limit, i'll answer here. i have no experience with the british plugs, if you say it's impossible i believe you. i don't understand, though, how does this happen to the person from the top message.

Neither on British nor European Plugs can you touch a live plug when only partially inserted.

You absolutely can. I've personally be accidentally shocked twice by pulling a firmly inserted plug out of a socket, but it was my own fault. Get the plug partly pulled out then readjust your hand to get more grip around the side of the plug and in doing so accidentally touch the non-insulated section of the live prong just as it is in contact with the live terminal

If both the plug and socket are correctly made, it's physically impossible - by the time the contacts on the plug are exposed, they've disconnected from the contacts in the socket. No matter how much you prod and poke, you should only ever come into contact with an insulated sleeve or a non-energised contact. Unfortunately there are a lot of non-compliant plugs being sold by disreputable online retailers.

It is possible to get a very mild shock from the plug contacts if the input capacitors of the appliance haven't fully discharged. This shouldn't happen with properly-designed appliances, but it's very unlikely to be dangerous if it does happen.

There's a long earth pin on the top of British plugs, the socket doesn't open the holes to allow the other two pins in until that's already inserted to the appropriate depth. So you can't stick anything in to the socket and touch a live wire.

If they use UK plugs it should be impossible to touch that because there’s a shutter that covers it until the earth pin in put in

Here’s a video by Tom Scott about why UK plugs are safer: https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q?si=f8UxqwhN4tmYxFMk

Should be the same for type G, the pins are shielded such that it shouldn't be possible for them to have exposed metal and be live at the same time.

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