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PAT Testing
Portable Appliance Testing Companies
Portable Appliance Tester
Portable Appliance Testing Companies
Portable Appliance Testing Companies
Portable appliance testing, or PAT testing, is a legal requirement for all UK businesses. Employers and business owners have a responsibility to ensure that all portable electrical equipment is kept in good working order. It is well known that many industrial fires are caused by faulty electrical equipment, so checking all appliances is actually a good fire safety measure for any business. However, all such work costs money and you just need to make sure that the testing you arrange is relevant to the equipment and its usage, rather than testing hundreds of items unnecessarily.
You also need to ensure that you find reliable portable appliance testing companies to work with as some are better than others. I have known companies that put in very low prices for PAT testing to put PASS labels on appliances with no plugs on! So exercise some caution and do not focus exclusively on the bottom price or you may find that this important work is not actually being done properly.
Portable Appliance Testing Companies – What To Test?
The first thing you need to understand is what is meant by a portable appliance. The portable aspect tells you that it relates to things that can be moved around or taken out of the premises. So anything that is part of the premises or hard wired in is not going to be a portable appliance. It is often said that a good definition is ‘anything with a plug on’, which is true most of the time, but there are some exceptions.
As well as the actual appliances that you have identified, you must also remember to include all the cables and connectors, which are classed as separate appliances and need testing too. Another big group of items that often get overlooked are things that may not belong to the business but are still on the premises. You may not need to arrange to test this stuff, but you still have a duty to ensure that it has been tested, or you should not allow it on your premises. As well as more obvious things like equipment used by visiting contractors, this also applies to items brought from home by your staff. So when people start bringing in kettles, radios or other equipment from home, that should all be tested too.
Portable Appliance Testing Companies – How Often To Test?
This can be a bit of a head scratcher, because the legislation is not very specific. Essentially it is your duty to ensure the equipment is safe by testing it at appropriate intervals, and these intervals will vary depending on the equipment and its use. Most people get most things done on an annual basis, but there are some things that will definitely require more frequent testing and others where it would be reasonable to do it less often.
It is down to you to assess the likely risk with each item and set an appropriate frequency for the inspections. If you find that there are always faults when you test something you will know that you should increase the frequency, whereas if you find that there are never faults, you may be able to reduce it. An example of an item that might need testing every few months would be something like an electric drill or screwdriver that is carried around by someone and used in lots of different locations. This type of use greatly increases the wear and tear and risk of damage from bumps and scrapes, so the testing should be more frequent. Something which is never moved at all and not used very much may be suitable for less frequent tests.
Portable Appliance Testing Companies – Keep A Record
When you go to the trouble and expense of having all your equipment tested it is important to retain a proper record of everything. Each item tested should have a label put on it which should show the date of the test and ideally when the next one is due. You should also get a printed report from the testing company for your records. You would need this if there was ever an accident or fire involving an electrical appliance.
Recommended Portable Appliance Testing Companies
See the main PAT Test page for details of recommended testing companies.
