the UK type are 100% better

Especially for use in a weight-lifting program.

OK, here's the new Haco plug. E is top, L is left, and N is right. Now what?

Open the in-use plug (yes you know to unplug from outlet) and check that - it should be brown=live (L), blue=neutral (N) and yellow/green=earth (E) - but best to take another photo of it open to be sure - there should be a fuse and that should the the live wire. Sometimes wire is colored differently.

You need to remove and then attach to the new plug - being very careful that connection is tight and no wires (not even one strand) goes near another wire/terminal.

The power cord for the appliance only has two wires, brown and blue. There was nothing connected to the E. There is no third wire of any color. So is my appliance a Chinese death trap?

Not really good news if the outside is actually conductive (metal) as it appears in photo. If actually plastic it is likely much less a danger. In any case it will not be any more of a danger than before. It may have been made with double insulation to allow for use without a ground (although probably not) - and often even items made for a ground are attached to outlets that do not have ground wire attached.

If your own home I would strongly advise having RCD (safe-t-cut type device) to add protection for such items (not perfect answer but reasonable, easy and not that expensive). If renting perhaps arrangement to receive at least partial reimbursement.

Someone could install 3 wire cord and ground if actually metal - but that would not be something for you to do yourself. And finding qualified people for small job like that might be a real issue. Perhaps someone doing computer repairs would understand.

At least you now know there is no ground protection for that item.

I have had to fix earth wires to some Thai/Chinese made equipment,

there must be a lot of deaths by electrocution here ,you cannot see

it,maybe thats why lots of people don't realize how dangerous it is.

regards Worgeordie

Come to think of it, my "wall" socket wasn't grounded anyway; it was just a long extension we had added a few years ago. We own our house so I'll look into RCDs. Thanks for the headsup. It sounds better than nothing, even if I only get one for the one socket. I'll report back if I buy anything. Many thanks for all the help. At least I've learned a lot.