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Electricity should not be taken for granted as it has the potential to kill or severely injure people and cause damage to property.
How many people have recently been into the store room within your organisation and removed an electrical appliance be it a heater, fan, drill etc. and plugged it in without checking if it had been tested or is in fact safe for use.
In reality, portable electrical testing is not about checking equipment that is used infrequently but ensuring that all electrical appliances are safe for use. Most organisations have and frequently use portable electrical equipment and tools in some form or another.
Every year there are hundreds of accidents at work due to electricity with a number of them being fatal. When you consider that non-fatal shocks can have serious consequences such as permanent disability or disfigurement it is not difficult to appreciate why, as an employer, you must ensure the safety of your workforce and anyone else that visits your premises.
An electrical shock can result in a wide number of injuries including:
- Muscle spasm and loss of muscular control
- Pain
- Brain damage
- Internal bleeding
- Disruption and damage to the nervous system
- Damage to internal organs and tissue
- Burns.
However, it is not just the direct effect of an electrical shock that can have an impact on an individual, as we all know even the slightest shock can ‘make us jump’ which can then lead to another type of injury such as falls from work platforms or ladders etc. causing significant injuries.
There are different views and myths about portable appliance testing (PAT) with some people stating that they all need to be tested every twelve months by a qualified electrical engineer. The truth is that the time periods are determined by the duty holder and are often based on the levels of risk identified within individual company’s assessments; legislation does not specify a specific time scale when equipment needs to be tested. The main legislation that affects portable electrical appliances is:-
- The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (HSWA) 1974
- Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order
- The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations (MHSWR).
- The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER).
- The Electricity at Work Regulations (EAWR)
All organisations should assess what electrical equipment they have and determine how and where the appliances are used. Harsh working environments will require electrical equipment to be tested more frequently.
There are two different ways for any organisation to ensure that in service electrical equipment is maintained: -
- Employ a specialist company to provide the inspection and testing service or
- Arrange for an in house member of staff to carry out the work (although it will be important to ensure the individual is competent to undertake the task)
In either case, the first step is to appoint a ‘responsible person’ who can be the duty holder and to whom staff and/or outside contractors report the results of any inspection and test, along with any defects identified during the testing process and throughout the duration of the test period.
The second step is for the ‘responsible person’ to compile an inventory of all equipment that will need testing and/or inspecting, and make decisions as to the frequency of such work. Some advice may need to be sort from an experienced contractor in order to achieve the most effective time schedule and to make decisions on which equipment should be involved.
One of the reasons why there is a distinction between portable equipment and fixed equipment is that the electrical connections to portable equipment e.g. the plug and the flexible cable and its terminations are more likely to be damaged due to wear or harsh treatment, when in use. Fixed electrical installations are usually provided with a significant degree of protection against damage by the fabric of the building or fixed enclosures. However you may often find that you have a lot of equipment such as photocopiers, fridges, television sets, fixed projectors etc within your offices which are unlikely to be damaged as they are moved infrequently. Therefore, equipment of this nature is less likely to require regular testing and can have a similar regime as the main electrical circuits within the building. This testing and examination procedure is generally accepted as five years for both business and commercial premises. However, please beware, as these conditions do not apply to all office equipment. Frequently used items, such as floor cleaners, kettles, and free standing electric heaters, that may suffer abuse and damage, will need to be inspected and tested more frequently.
It is equally important to remember that it is not just portable electrical equipment that needs checking and maintaining. To comply with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 and the 16th Edition of the IEE Wiring Regulations, all mains electrical installations within a building should be tested by a competent electrical engineer on a regular basis. Routine checks should be undertaken to determine the standard of the electrics and the electrical circuits should have a combined inspection and test every five years (or at a frequency determined by the engineer undertaking the task).
It is also imperative that specific electrical equipment is tested in accordance with the manufacturers instructions for example, fire alarms and emergency lighting should be checked daily, weekly, monthly and annually to guarantee they function correctly, failure to carry out this action could ultimately mean loss of lives.