I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but I have started to see in public places the 5-15R outlets that housekeeping would use in the hallways being either replaced with locking covers (downtown library) or L5-15R receptacles (our NHL Arena).

Winnipeg has a skywalk system downtown and I am guessing that the Library and Arena sections of the skywalk are taking steps to keep people from sitting in the walkways to recharge their cell phones, laptops etc.

I haven't noticed that yet but we've blanked them off in an apartment complex in the hallways because people were getting their power shut off for non payment then running extension cords out into the hallway for free power.

Common area receptacles in multi family resi are abused by the residents constantly. The Fire Marshals and Health guys find extension cords when they walk thru. Commercial buildings are just the occasional phone charger.

In our downtown area a few years ago, the perimeter fence for a cell site was cut, and homeless folk were plugging phones into the HVAC service outlet on the outside of the building. Then an extension cord appeared and electric heaters were attempted as someone tried to build a camp along the fence.. They blew the breaker and that ended all the fun. That area was cleared of brush and is being gentrified, booting out the homeless camps.

Might have something to do with the penny challenge?

What's that? We have not had pennies in Canada for a number of years now.

It is dropping a coin between the plug and the wall so it lands on the blades. A loonie would work.

Maybe time to ask the Australians how they managed to sleeve the prongs of their plugs without weakening them too much?

If the receptacle is mounted ground prong up, it would make it more difficult to play the penny challenge, not impossible but a bit more difficult. The mentally challenged seem to like those games just like the Tide pod challenge.

Janitors have a nasty habit of ripping the faces off of 5-15s , even the heaviest duty ones, by pulling sideways on the cords of their vacuum cleaners.
It's good that they converted to locking receptacles, if for no other reason.

Some would dispute the last bit of that sentence, but there's nothing too fancy to it; simply a matter of making the plastic layer just as thick as necessary (and perhaps choosing a plastic with high dielectric strength so it doesn't need to be too thick).
AS/NZS 3112 was revised in 2004 to upgrade the strength test requirements (it was the 2000 issue that mandated the insulation, effective 2005), so I suspect some manufacturers may have initially tried thicker plastic than necessary to save a bit of money on the (more expensive) brass.

I don't have any personal experience with current AS/NZ plugs but I definitely remember reading here that they're sturdier than at least some NEMA plugs despite the sheathed prongs. IMO sheathing the prongs would be by far the most sensible safety upgrade to the NEMA x-15, x-20 and 6-15/20 plugs!

Many NEMA plugs also rely on the overmolded PVC alone to hold the pins in place (even when the pins themselves are solid enough), which is definitely not good for reliability (especially of the wire-to-pin terminations under mechanical stress, and when the PVC is hot and therefore soft). At least every remotely modern molded AS/NZS plug I've seen has a rigid plastic frame inside.

This is mostly what I saw in NZ and it really looked like a good design to me. There was a good grip to pull them out for one thing. They also had the angled wall hugger cord exit with a good strain relief. As for the NEMA plugs, they range from lousy Asian imports to very sturdy commercial designs all being the same form factor.

There should be more of the angled wall hugger cord caps on electrical utilization devices here.

I love the ones on the upgraded power strips!!