Symmetric power sockets – design considerations in electrical devices
No, there really isn't any significant simplification possible. When you interface to the power line, you have to make your design as robust and fail-safe as possible, in order to avoid product liability issues.

Even if the design of the wall socket permits only one physical orientation, there are enough mis-wired wall sockets out there that you really need to treat both Line and Neutral as "hot" inside your product.