The concern with having sockets on different phases seems limited to Britain. Neither the Americans nor us Continentals seem to bother. Should the electrical installation or the appliances lack earthing there would be a real danger, but that's not the case in modern installations. The protective earth will provide isolation between the phases and there is really no safety concern. It seems four failures have to occur for someone to recieve a 400V shock: Both the basic insulation and the earthing in two appliances need to have failed.
[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 01-19-2004).]
