While we all hope to to eliminate the chances of any injuries to children, I suggest that the electrical industry has had an outstanding record. While much has been made of the incidence of child injury due to electrical outlets, according to the CPSC, the annual rate of child electrical injury is 2400, of which 15% are due to placing foreign objects into outlets, or about 360 kids per year. Most of injuries are caused by faulty appliances or cords. By comparison, 155,400 children were treated for toy-related injuries, which results in as many as 11 fatalities annually.
To combat this "epidemic" problem, we have instituted code changes effecting installations in every home. While I don't mean to sound sarcastic, it occurs to me that the best safety device has always been parental vigilance and teaching; despite having watched me do electrical work around the house, none of my four kids has ever been hurt by an electrical mishap, which I suspect has more to do with stern warnings and watching than tamper-resistant outlets, which were unavailable until recently. Yet, I still wonder what warning a parent might give to give a three-year old regarding a toy; whether parents should be be armed with chemical test kits to find those coated with lead or containing toxic compounds which surprisingly find occasional entry into the toys we buy. Maybe we could limit kids to something safe - like paper and crayons or sidewalk chalk (whoops! found lead in those, too, didn't we?)
We will eventually reduce that figure of 360 as TR outlets become more prevalent, and perhaps the industry will invent devices to prevent the remaining 85% of child electrical injury. In our efforts to make the world completely benign to the curious explorations of children, though, some aspect of environment will go unrecognized. Another child will be hurt in some manner unanticipated; more rules and standards will be instituted. However, I would suggest that teaching and adult supervision is always the best, as the world is a dangerous place; a child able to recognize and avoid danger is much better off. Paul Lazorko
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“Hi Mike, I'm not an electrician nor studying to be one, but I've been educating myself on some basics just to be able to correct some problems with switches and receptacles around our house such as exposed switches with no covers because somebody put paneling on the walls and did not correct recessed boxes so covers could be put on, receptacles with reversed polarity, grounds in the boxes but not connected to anything, a receptacle that actually fell apart when I removed a cover, etc. Anyway, in the course of my study I came across your forum and read with interest debates about twisting vs. not twisting wire nuts and which way should receptacles be installed - ground up or ground down? The ground up camp pointed out the possibility of something falling across the hot and neutral if outlets are ground down and a plug is loose especially a loose metal outlet cover. (I'll never buy a metal cover after reading this.) I started thinking there ought to be a safety shield of some sort one could put on an outlet to prevent such a thing. 
