Wa2yse:
As has been discussed several times in this forum the majority of European plugs are not polarised for historical reasons.
In many EU countries in the past you had 2 "hots" at aprox. 127V when a load is connected across these you got a potential difference of 220V. This system was phased out in favour of a 220 (now 230V) hot and 0 V (bonded to ground) neutral. However, the plugs and sockets in many countries remained the same and did not become polarised.
It's just a difference in design philosophy and doesn't actually degrade the safety of appliences.
Appliences are all, including light bulb holders, designed to work safely with a non polarised connection. They use 2-pole switches and in the case of ES bulb holders the terminals are shrouded and unlike the US version you cannot contact any of the terminals when the bulb is screwed in, thus eliminating one of the only risks of shock that could be caused by a non-polarised plug.
Other than that appliences pose no risks and in all cases it's advisable to unplug an applience before opening the case. This is also true in a polarised system as it's quite possible that hot conductors could be exposed even though the applience's switch is in the off position. It's just common sense.
The only major exception to this are the UK and Ireland where every outlet is polarised and grounded every plug individually fused and where 2 pin plugs / sockets don't exsist.
Swiss, French and Danish sockets are also polarised when used with a grounded plug but are not however when used with a 2 pin plug.
[This message has been edited by djk (edited 10-31-2003).]
