Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) testing is one of those bugbears which affects just about all of us. I often use it as an example of H&S rules at their worst. There are far too many unscrupulous folk out there, many of whom run PAT testing businesses, who scare SME’s by their insistence that everything needs testing every year, with the inevitable associated costs hitting the bottom line hard.
So where does common sense fit in all of this? All of us are only too well aware of the risks which can result from poorly maintained or mis-used electrical equipment and now the HSE have issued some revised guidance to help businesses understand what is and is not required. Their basic stance is that for most office electrical equipment, visual checks for obvious signs of damage and perhaps simple tests by a competent member of staff are quite sufficient. I for one welcome this as I am sure that it will help many of us challenge the ‘everything every year’ viewpoint.
Here’s a great link to a FAQ section on PAT testing which is published on the HSE website:
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE LINK
So where does common sense fit in all of this? All of us are only too well aware of the risks which can result from poorly maintained or mis-used electrical equipment and now the HSE have issued some revised guidance to help businesses understand what is and is not required. Their basic stance is that for most office electrical equipment, visual checks for obvious signs of damage and perhaps simple tests by a competent member of staff are quite sufficient. I for one welcome this as I am sure that it will help many of us challenge the ‘everything every year’ viewpoint.
Here’s a great link to a FAQ section on PAT testing which is published on the HSE website:
CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE LINK
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