I don't really see them being any safer. Regular bananas have been safely used for decades plus. I don't doubt that somewhere along the line somebody probably sued somebody and this is why we now have those ridiculous inverted bananas, but I won't accept them for normal applications.
Mark Z.
I'd guess there are specs about touching a live pin with an object of a particular size. There are in the UK where mains plugs have the top part of the pins insulated to prevent this And of course the pin of a banana plug can be 'live' if not fully inserted and possibly touched. The usual answer to this is a shrouded banana plug - and this arrangement doesn't stop a plain one being used if you must. But means the device as supplied with its own test leads conforms to safety regs. Many inexperienced users will check mains circuits with a cheap DVM so it makes sense to prevent easily avoidable accidents.
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