Guidelines HAVE CHANGED!
As an Employer, Organisation, or Landlord, are you AWARE of these changes?
Do you sell "Second Hand" electrical appliances?
Do you sell "Second Hand" electrical appliances?
For further information, check out this website, and the presentation below.
For a FREE assessment of possible savings that you could make.
Get in touch, or send me a copy of your current test results.
I will look over them, and report back to you within a few days.
Get in touch, or send me a copy of your current test results.
I will look over them, and report back to you within a few days.
It is estimated that office based businesses are currently wasting around £30 million per year on unnecessary testing often due to misleading advice provided by companies offering testing.
The HSE said that it is a myth that every portable electrical appliance in the workplace needs to be tested once a year. In reality the law only requires an employer to ensure that electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger. It does not stipulate that every item has to be tested, or how often the testing needs to be carried out. The level of maintenance required should be determined according to the risk of an item becoming faulty and how the equipment is constructed.
Launching the revised guidance on portable appliance testing (PAT), HSE’s Chairman Judith Hackitt commented on the fact that many companies were being misled over the legal requirements and were paying for testing that was not needed. She said “Businesses are responsible for protecting their employees, but they shouldn’t be wasting their money on unnecessary checks that have no real benefit.”
The new simple to follow guidance from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, (IET) Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (4th Edition) has been revised in response to the publication last year of the Löfstedt report on health and safety legislation which concluded that the legal requirements in respect of the maintenance of electrical appliances were too widely applied resulting in costly and unnecessary testing.
So What's New?
The recent updated Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (4th Edition) recommends that the next test date is NOT printed on any test labels. This way people are not content that it is just OK because it's in date, and a risk assessment should be done. It also includes new types of equipment, more information on different kinds of premises and how equipment is used in the workplace and how this affects the testing procedures.
Second hand equipment has been included in this revision of the Code of Practice as the IET has found that due to increased emphasis on safety and quality many second hand products now have drastically longer shelf-life than they used to. This move was also moved because they did not feel it was fair to penalise equipment for being second hand, and also as a way to help the environment by stopping appliances from being thrown away when they simply don’t need to be.
The way hiring equipment is presented has also been changed. Under the new scope, hiring equipment becomes the responsibility of the person currently possessing it after 7 days, meaning they are then responsible for its maintenance and any necessary testing.
Risk Assessment PAT (Portable Appliance Testing)
As mentioned earlier the main aim of the recent Löfstedt review for Health and Safety Legislation was to reduce costs for businesses.
Making safety procedures cheaper is certainly a great way to acquire more funds for areas like innovation, training, human potential and business expansion, which are all good for the economy in general.
A firm emphasis on a "risk assessment" approach could be found through out the recommendations by Professor Löfstedt. The recent changes in health and safety legislation are promoting a risk based attitude to most safety issues, reducing the “red tape” and the practice of over-compliance with the law.
One of the latest changes that has been made, and was certainly needed, was regarding electrical appliances and portable Appliance testing (PAT).
Based on the fact that now most service sector businesses (such as offices, shops, care homes, hotels etc.) are considered to be low-risk environments, there is still need of regular risk-based check-ups for electrical equipment.
This necessity of careful testing is backed up by these statistics:
every year over 1000 workplace accidents and 30 fatalities are reported to the HSE along with the fire UK statistics which clearly show that faulty electrical appliances and leads are the single most common case of fires in non-residential buildings.
The recent updated Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment provides us with the latest guidance for complying with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
The changes explain misunderstandings such as the frequency of PAT tests (Portable Appliances Testing), which appliances are necessary to check-up regularly, the responsibilities of duty- holders and what to do if using external contractors.
A risk assessment based attitude towards electrical safety and PAT testing is the key as this is not an exact science issue.
Sometimes more regular testing is required, or maybe only infrequent inspections would be necessary.
You may need to test some appliances and not others. When deciding how to proceed consider issues such as:
1. The frequency of testing would depend on a change of circumstances. For example: the photocopying machine being moved nearer plants watered on a daily basis, or a computer situated very near a source of heat.
2. Who is using it and how often. Think about the level of knowledge and training of the employee to use the appliance and make sure they would inform of any failures or damages. The employee using the particular electrical item should be made responsible and aware to report when the item is not working properly in order to avoid unnecessary hazards. Portable, movable, handheld and frequently used electrical appliances are to be checked more often, as they represent higher risk for the user.
3. Class I appliances are all earthed items which depend on the fixed electrical installation, such as cables and extension leads, main cables and battery-charging items do need regular testing. Class II, or double-insulated equipment may not need to be tested, only inspected.
4. Installation methods should be taken into account, when assessing fixed equipment you should consider the position and the material of the isolator.
5. Previous records could be helpful when deciding how often to test or only to inspect the electrical equipment.
6. Labeling and record keeping. When regular testing is required, this would need to be performed by a competent person and an appropriate bar code label could be used.
If the risk assessment based approach to PAT is adopted, a direct result would be enhanced records and documentation keeping.
Please get in touch if you require further information.
The HSE said that it is a myth that every portable electrical appliance in the workplace needs to be tested once a year. In reality the law only requires an employer to ensure that electrical equipment is maintained in order to prevent danger. It does not stipulate that every item has to be tested, or how often the testing needs to be carried out. The level of maintenance required should be determined according to the risk of an item becoming faulty and how the equipment is constructed.
Launching the revised guidance on portable appliance testing (PAT), HSE’s Chairman Judith Hackitt commented on the fact that many companies were being misled over the legal requirements and were paying for testing that was not needed. She said “Businesses are responsible for protecting their employees, but they shouldn’t be wasting their money on unnecessary checks that have no real benefit.”
The new simple to follow guidance from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, (IET) Code of Practice for In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (4th Edition) has been revised in response to the publication last year of the Löfstedt report on health and safety legislation which concluded that the legal requirements in respect of the maintenance of electrical appliances were too widely applied resulting in costly and unnecessary testing.
So What's New?
The recent updated Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (4th Edition) recommends that the next test date is NOT printed on any test labels. This way people are not content that it is just OK because it's in date, and a risk assessment should be done. It also includes new types of equipment, more information on different kinds of premises and how equipment is used in the workplace and how this affects the testing procedures.
Second hand equipment has been included in this revision of the Code of Practice as the IET has found that due to increased emphasis on safety and quality many second hand products now have drastically longer shelf-life than they used to. This move was also moved because they did not feel it was fair to penalise equipment for being second hand, and also as a way to help the environment by stopping appliances from being thrown away when they simply don’t need to be.
The way hiring equipment is presented has also been changed. Under the new scope, hiring equipment becomes the responsibility of the person currently possessing it after 7 days, meaning they are then responsible for its maintenance and any necessary testing.
Risk Assessment PAT (Portable Appliance Testing)
As mentioned earlier the main aim of the recent Löfstedt review for Health and Safety Legislation was to reduce costs for businesses.
Making safety procedures cheaper is certainly a great way to acquire more funds for areas like innovation, training, human potential and business expansion, which are all good for the economy in general.
A firm emphasis on a "risk assessment" approach could be found through out the recommendations by Professor Löfstedt. The recent changes in health and safety legislation are promoting a risk based attitude to most safety issues, reducing the “red tape” and the practice of over-compliance with the law.
One of the latest changes that has been made, and was certainly needed, was regarding electrical appliances and portable Appliance testing (PAT).
Based on the fact that now most service sector businesses (such as offices, shops, care homes, hotels etc.) are considered to be low-risk environments, there is still need of regular risk-based check-ups for electrical equipment.
This necessity of careful testing is backed up by these statistics:
every year over 1000 workplace accidents and 30 fatalities are reported to the HSE along with the fire UK statistics which clearly show that faulty electrical appliances and leads are the single most common case of fires in non-residential buildings.
The recent updated Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment provides us with the latest guidance for complying with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.
The changes explain misunderstandings such as the frequency of PAT tests (Portable Appliances Testing), which appliances are necessary to check-up regularly, the responsibilities of duty- holders and what to do if using external contractors.
A risk assessment based attitude towards electrical safety and PAT testing is the key as this is not an exact science issue.
Sometimes more regular testing is required, or maybe only infrequent inspections would be necessary.
You may need to test some appliances and not others. When deciding how to proceed consider issues such as:
1. The frequency of testing would depend on a change of circumstances. For example: the photocopying machine being moved nearer plants watered on a daily basis, or a computer situated very near a source of heat.
2. Who is using it and how often. Think about the level of knowledge and training of the employee to use the appliance and make sure they would inform of any failures or damages. The employee using the particular electrical item should be made responsible and aware to report when the item is not working properly in order to avoid unnecessary hazards. Portable, movable, handheld and frequently used electrical appliances are to be checked more often, as they represent higher risk for the user.
3. Class I appliances are all earthed items which depend on the fixed electrical installation, such as cables and extension leads, main cables and battery-charging items do need regular testing. Class II, or double-insulated equipment may not need to be tested, only inspected.
4. Installation methods should be taken into account, when assessing fixed equipment you should consider the position and the material of the isolator.
5. Previous records could be helpful when deciding how often to test or only to inspect the electrical equipment.
6. Labeling and record keeping. When regular testing is required, this would need to be performed by a competent person and an appropriate bar code label could be used.
If the risk assessment based approach to PAT is adopted, a direct result would be enhanced records and documentation keeping.
Please get in touch if you require further information.