PAT Testing

Electricity can kill! Each year about 1000 accidents at work involving electric shock or burns are reported to the Health and Safety Executive. About 30 of these are fatal. Faulty electrical appliances and cables are the main cause of accidental fires in commercial buildings, representing over a quarter of all such fires.

All employers have a legal duty to ensure the portable electrical appliances within their company premises are safe to use. PAT testing electrical appliances ensures peace of mind from a safety and legal point of view.

The legislation of specific relevance to electrical maintenance is the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.

All appliances that have been tested and inspected will be clearly identifiable by labelling the equipment with a PAT Testing label. The label will contain the following information:

• An identification code to enable equipment to be identified
• The status of the equipment following the testing ie. PASS or FAIL
• The date the equipment was tested, together with the re-test period or the re-test date

The label is designed to enable the equipment to be easily identified even if several similar items exist within the same premises and also indicate to a non-technical user if the equipment is due for re-testing or should not be used.