If it’s a simple electric outlet, then yes, they are against building codes in the bathroom. If they’re the GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) type, then they are acceptable for installation in bathrooms, kitchens, near sinks, etc., and are required by local code in most places.
Yep, there’s no sockets or light switches in UK bathrooms either, aside from low voltage shaver points, so a plugged-in hair dryer would certainly freak me out.
Well, the old “how many mods does it take to change a lightbulb” meme makes more sense now.
I think it’s a completely reasonable request. If my roommate told me it freaked them out, I would be sorry I had been freaking them out this whole time, and would probably admonish them for not saying anything this whole time while walking away from them on my way to the bathroom to immediately unplug and remove the thing during the conversation.
If the dryer being nearby but unplugged is OK with you, and she maybe does what she does currently because there’s lack of storage, I still suggest hanging it from a hook on the wall as a reasonable solution. If that’s not OK with you, personally, I’d keep it in my room then. Not a big deal.
Not only is the outlet almost certainly GFCI (unless you live in a really, really old house), but any hair dryer sold today will have the same sort of thing in its plug. So you’re going to be fine.
I’m not saying you can’t ask your housemate to do it, but I don’t want you to be afraid of something that is harmless. Plus, she might bring this up if she knows this, so I wouldn’t base your argument on that.
And there would be nothing wrong with not saying anything and putting up with it no longer bothers you.
On a personal note, my hairdryer is always plugged in, I keep it stuffed into the towel rack on the wall next to the bathroom sink.
If the person is a roommate you’ve got a different dynamic than if it’s an SO or spouse. So the “how” of asking and the balance of duties will be different in each case. I didn’t see the OP telling us which living arrangement he’s got.
As a non-electophobic person I’d not be bothered by it being near the sink. Provided it has enough space to sit securely wherever. Teetering on the edge of being bumped into the sink at every use? That’s a whole 'nother ball game; unsafe bordering on suicidal.
I’m a believer in non-clutter, and everything always put away unless in use. So I’d be objecting to the drier being left out on those grounds. From the details in OP’s post #15 we see the hair dryer owner is simply a slob.
Which loops back to my first paragraph. Remediating a slob is going to be difficult in any case and best tactics will depend on the relationship. IMO slob and selfish are not synonymous terms, but the overlap between them is very very large.
IMO/IME as a neatnik, rooming with a slob is a total non-starter. I wouldn’t even live with one if they were paying 100% of the rent. My sanity is worth more than that.
In the ideal world you could complain about the safety risk, get blown off, then arrange for it to fall into the tub with her in it. Pretty clean accident. You do need a backup plan in case it doesn’t kill her though.
YMMV of course.
I have a strong dislike of hairdryers being plugged in but out of concern for a fire instead of for electricity. Does hers turn off automatically when it’s not in use? If not that’s another valid reason that might sway her acceptance, neither one of you want the house to burn down.
Bolding mine
Something tells me Idle Thoughts isn’t going to pull the cover and inspect the wiring or hit the trip switch to test the outlet. 
Someone too stupid / lazy to turn off a hair dryer is not someone you can reliably train to not only turn it off but then also to unplug it after turning it off.
If it bugs you, ask her to move it. But also be aware your electricity phobia makes you sound like a nutcase, so you probably shouldn’t bring that up.
A simple hair dryer? Extremely doubtful. Almost certainly just a few single pole switches for the fan and the heating element.
Even if the wiring in the bathroom is old and there’s no gfci, the hairdryer almost certainly has its own built in gfci. This is not a dangerous situation. You should approach this as a clutter problem, not a safety issue. And maybe talk to someone about this fear of electricity, 'cause that’s kind of ridiculous in the modern world, and you should get it fixed.
My bathroom is old enough that there is only one plug and that is up at the light fixture. I keep my hairdryer plugged in at all times.
One, I live alone.
Two, the outlet is only on when the light is on.
Three, leaving it plugged in all the time is probably a lot safer than me plugging it in each time since I would a)be wet, b) have uncorrected vision, c) would have a cat underfoot, and d) am short. I can’t see any good of daily plugging in an electrical appliance while I am wet, the bathroom is covered in condensation, I have to stand on tiptoe while keeping my balance by leaning on the sink taps, and Ms. MeMeMeMEEEEEE is clammering for attention. Mine remains plugged in, but I’ve got a sort of holder/holster rigged in the over the tank shelves so that it’s up off the counter and away from splashing water.
-
The phobia was mentioned only as a way of explaining why it bugs me. I didn’t and am not seeking advice or suggestions on how to handle it.
-
It’s not that bad. It makes it so I can’t plug in or unplug things, mostly…and, sometimes, changing lightbulbs, but that’s not often. I can usually change lightbulbs if I have to, but it’s pretty much a nonissue as I don’t ever have to very often (maybe once a year, if that). And it’s very, very rare that it effects me so badly that I can’t turn on lightswitches. It only does that if the light switch has cracks or wires exposed or things like that.
I have no other problems with electricity outside of those three things and only one of those three things is something I can’t do…so I’m not thinking it’s a huge deal.
- If you (or anyone) has had as much bad luck as I have had with electricity (having as many shocks as I have in my life), I think they’d be equally as wary of it. I don’t know what it is about my body (or if it’s anything at all), but it seems to conduct electricity really well. Maybe it has to do with some kind of magnetism or something, in the body. I don’t know. All I do know is that it’s so bad that I cannot wear most kinds of metals (it corrodes against my skin over a short period of time) and I cannot wear watches (because they wind up stopping after a short period of time), so…no idea.
But anyway, like I said, the whole phobia is pretty much just to give backstory. I wasn’t looking for anything in regards to that in this thread. I do appreciate concern and advice, but mostly I was just looking for “Does this bother you, normally?”…not “Get help” sort of posts.