What is a PAT?
PAT, as you will have already deduced is the acronym for Portable Appliance Testing. A portable appliance in itself is a particular definition that describes the group of equipment that is usually relatively small (Less than 18kg) and can be easily moved. Typical examples of such equipment are, power tools, Microwaves, toasters, vacuums etc.
However, “PAT” testing covers a whole range of electrical equipment, which quite often is large and certainly would not be moved in use, a good example is a refrigerator. It should also apply to equipment that may be fastened to a wall or floor and possibly “hard wired” to its means of supply.
PAT testing - Legal Requirements
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASW 1974) is an Act set by Parliament that places a duty of care on Employers & Employees to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This Act is law, and to contravene this law is a criminal offence.
As HASW 1974 is an “enabling act” it does not enter into detail of how you will achieve compliance but looks to other Regulations to achieve it.
Regulations
For the purpose of electrical safety in the use and provision of Electrical equipment, three Regulation sets typically apply.
Firstly, “The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999” which places a duty on Every employer to make a sufficient assessment of the risks to health and safety of employees while at work and to all other persons while carrying out their work.
Of the assessed risks for any electrical equipment, it is quite likely that the number one hazard would be that of an electric shock.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER 98) requires every Employer to ensure that all equipment including electrical equipment is suitable for use, it is maintained in a safe condition and is inspected to ensure it’s continued safety. With respect to the risks from electricity, PUWER is likely to be satisfied by the compliance with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. As it’s title suggests, this is specifically electrical and requires all necessary precautions to be taken against the risk of Electric Shock.
Compliance
As you can see there is considerable Legislation & Regulations that place a duty on Employers and Employees for the safety of their selves and others. Ensuring this compliance must not be a paperwork exercise but a real initiative to ensure safety.
Carrying out frequent Inspection & testing to your electrical equipment will promote this safety.
Socket Testing
All appliances that plug into a socket outlet rely on the integrity of their connection for the safe use of the equipment. So as you may realise, checking the socket outlet at the time of inspecting the Portable Appliance makes good sense.
At Electrotest Services all our Portable Appliance test engineers are trained to identify and report any defects that are found at a socket outlet serving the equipment currently being tested.
This inspection however, does present certain limitations. It does not identify a latent defect of say a wiring fault in a socket that does not have any equipment plugged into it.
We have found over recent years many of our customers have incorporated socket checking into their inspections as a good interim measure between their formal Mains Electrical Periodic Inspections.
How is it carried out?
We typically carryout the inspections of sockets at the same time as the PAT, however this time we check, test & record every available socket outlet within the premises. All sockets are barcoded with a unique number and undergo an external visual inspection supplemented by a test of polarity and a proven connection to earth.
Any defects found would be notified to the site contact at time of the inspection.
