Pat Test Introduction

PAT testing or portable appliance testing is generally speaking, the electrical safety tests performed on electrical appliances fitted with a plug, and is an integral part of any health & safety policy. PAT testing is not quite as cut and dried as a lot of people may think and, as with much legislation in the U.K., it does have a certain air of ‘vagueness’ surrounding the exact methodology. Strictly speaking there are no legislative regulatory requirements as yet for Portable Appliance Testing Companies and at present legislation only requires that testing is performed by a competent person. However, the Electricity at Work Regulations place a legal responsibility on everyone in the workplace to comply with the provisions of the regulations and take reasonable steps to ensure that no danger results from the use of Portable appliances. This requires the implementation of a preventative maintenance and testing regime with appropriate mechanisms to ensure a safe working environment. The Health & Safety at Work Act (1974) places a duty of care upon both employer,employee and the self employed to ensure the safety of all persons using all work premises. The frequency of the testing regime is dependent upon risk. Construction Sites, Industrial premises and Commercial Kitchens for example may require inspection or testing as frequently as every month whilst a rack mounted server system within an air conditioned restricted access area could be inspected on a 2 year cycle. It is clear that the various legislation applies to all electrical equipment either used in, or associated with, places of work. The scope extends from the largest distribution systems to the smallest piece of electrical equipment such as a mobile phone charger and even in some instances battery operated equipment. Examples of suggested frequencies of inspection and testing is dependent on risk with frequencies varying from: 1. Weekly - for some types of equipment used by the public 2. Monthly - for all types of equipment on Construction Sites 3. Six Monthly - for some types of office equipment 4. 2 yearly - for some types of office equipment