The IEC connector is used on heavy appliences here in Ireland (and in the UK) for things like 2.5 KW electric kettles, sandwich toasters etc. Even seen it on vacuum cleaners. It's not actually all that safe and I certainly wouldn't like to see it as a wall plate.
You can very easily insert a small metal object into one of the "slits" on the socket. It's not shuttered it allows you to pull the plug out by the cord etc.
As for the breaking / bending pins problem. A british plug would physically break before the pins would bend they're very solid brass no way you'd bend/break them even if you hit it with a hammer or put them into a vice.
The only signifigant problem I find with BS1363 plugs is that if you leave them on the floor they tend to fall with all 3 pins sticking up. They tend to sit on their backs (which are flat) by default (cable exits thru the bottom)
The problem: you unplug something, plug is sitting on the floor and you get up in the dark and walk on it! While the pins arn't sharp, if you come down on them hard enough with your foot you'll do yourself quite a painful injury.
I've never seen any other plug system that does this!
Other than that one problem they're actually a very good system and probabally the most recent design of connector in use (and were revised in the 70s and 80s to include sheething on the phase and neutral). Schuko (and its derivitives) & the US standard have been around for much longer and haven't really adapted to cope with modern safety demands. The UK system was designed primarly as a safety device and was even refered to in Ireland as a "safety plug" when Schuko and BS 546 were being phased out of use.
Its definitely a system that is very well able to cope with modern demands. If the ring circuit is used correctly it's also very useful. Modern homes have a lot low wattage appliences thesedays and with the ring circuit design it's much easier to have sufficient sockets installed. E.g. in Ireland the regulations require 10 outlets in a kitchen as a recomended minimum! Generally people don't add sockets or break the rings. You can insert a europlug into older style BS 1363 sockets if you bypass the shuttering but you physically can't fit full 16 amp schuko pins into the "holes" they're too wide. I've noticed that newer sockets now have 3-way shuttering, i.e. you have to insert an earth pin and then push both L & N in simultaniously (europlugs won't open the shutters only correctly sized pins will open it)
A typical modern home here would have at least 4 outlets per room and it's rare to see a single wall plate in a modern installation. Older installations tended to have one per room, seems common to have 1 or 2 in France. I would rather have properly installed and functioning british style ring circuits than endless adaptors as I've seen in France.
The other comment about the ring circuit is that there is no high incidence of electrical fires here caused by ring circuits. They've been in use for years and they have never caused any problems. However, DIY electrical work on any circuit architecture (radial or ring) is likely to cause problems! I've seen sockets added to lighting circuits, into cooker circuits etc by DIYers!
