Portable Appliance Testing, or PAT Testing, is a common service to maintain electrical appliances.
- Is an appliance safe?
- How good is the insulation?
- What state are the wires inside the plug?
- Are the live and neutral wires reversed at either the plug end or inside the appliance? (the appliance would still function with ‘reversed polarity’, but it is potentially very dangerous).
- Is that slight shock that you and your colleagues get from that fridge several times a week really just static?
Without formal visual inspection and testing, how can we know if equipment is safe, whether it needs to be repaired or disposed of, or otherwise appropriately dealt with? In other words, whether it is compliant with legislation.
The Electricity At Work Regulations, 1989 cover every kettle, fax, copier, computer, extension lead, etc., including 110V equipment, in a business or public place. In fact, if it is electrical and has a plug on it, whether it is in regular use or not, then it must be maintained safely.
It is a legal requirement that all items of electrical equipment being used in the workplace are safe, well-maintained and suitable for the purpose for which they are being used, at all times. The penalties for non-compliance can be severe, leading to fines and ultimately, imprisonment.
The only way to determine whether electrical equipment is ‘safe, well-maintained and suitable for the purpose for which it is being used, is to have it routinely formally visually-inspected and instrument tested . Therefore, PAT Testing is implicit in the need to ensure that such equipment, at the time of the inspection and testing at least, is indeed safe, well-maintained and suitable for the purpose for which it is being used.
Here is our Example of a PAT Report.
