To continue the "debate". This is a comment worthy of further consideration, I reckon:-

Originally Posted By: Roy
Another option is to fit red plug tops to equipment which does NOT have a battery, so unplug it and it stops. At least if you then unplug battery powered equipment it alarms to warn you it's lost it's supply.

But (unless my own experiences have been less than the norm) surely this is the de-facto reality:-

Originally Posted By: Roy
Someone explained to me how their ITU dealt with the problem of tangled mains cables at the head of the ITU beds ... Apparently they left all their detatchable mains leads plugged in to the walls and switched on at all times. When the nursing staff wanted to power a piece of equipment, they scrabbled around on the floor to find an unused IEC connector and plugged it in. When they had finished with a piece of equipment, they unplugged the IEC lead and dropped it back on the floor. No confusion - no problem !

Surely we have all come across "free" mains cables dangling from trunking and high-level outlets? I have seen whole platoons of them! As long as the cables don't actually reach the floor, and are all fused at the same (10 A?) rating ... what's the problem? Isn't this exactly how the so-called IEC cables are supposed to be used? whistle

If you don't inspect ... don't expect.