Electrical – What are safe alternatives of electrical tape

What you want to do is terminate the wires in the junction box using Wire Nuts. Simply thread them on to the end of the exposed wire, and you need not worry about live wires touching, kids getting zapped, etc. You should turn off the branch circuit in question (via a circuit breaker or removing a fuse) while removing the outlet and putting on the wire nuts.

If you need to have the box open for a more extended period of time, get a flat cover plate for the junction box (put on the wire nuts, tuck the wire back in the box, attach the cover plate).

I agree with Aloysius. Many homes in the U.S. Are 2 wire when the 3 wire outlets were added each circuit should have been protected by a GFCI and the outlets marked no equipment ground. Other that "touch lamps" I don't remember seeing lights that required the ground to work. The hot smell is not a good thing make sure you are not overloading the circuit. I would guess that the electrician only checked the polarization of the outlets with a outlet tester like this or one with a GFCI test button. If the circuits are GFCI protected with a GFCI outlet on the first outlet in the circuit or a GFCI breaker the system would meet code. The second tester cost ~10$ and you could verify the polarity and push the test button to see if there is protection.