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Posted By Hayley McBride
Good evening all,
Could someone please clarify for me if a charity is responsible for PAT testing all electrical equipment within a house which has been rented by the charity for the purpose of housing adults with learning diability.
thanks Hayley.
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Posted By David Bannister
Hayley, you most certainly have a duty of care towards your tenants and in my opinion that duty will extend to ensuring that the living accommodation and domestic items remain safe.
For your tenants your duty extends further than would be the case for other domestic landlords due to their learning difficulties and probable reduced ability for the users to recognise damaged equipment.
Whilst there is no specific legal requirement to carry out PAT testing it is the most widely used formal method of reducing the risks of electrocution from a faulty electrical appliance.
In short, I believe you should be implementing a very high degree of oversight on the use of portable electrical items.
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Posted By AHS
I agree there is a civil duty of care made more pronounced by their health issues; as regards criminal enforcement under the HSWA/FSO this is a grey area except regarding communal areas.
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Posted By Adrian Watson
Hayley,
Who do the appliances belong to? If they belong to the charity it has a duty to ensure that they are safe. If not, they have no obligation.
Regards Adrian Watson
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Posted By David Bannister
Adrian I disagree in these circumstances. The charity cannot abdicate its responsibilities with regard to its client's well-being, even to the extent of ensuring that personal belongings (say an electric heater) remain safe in use.
Of course the duty will depend on the specific circumstances and abilities of each client and what is seen as reasonable and necessary in one house may not be appropriate in another. That is where the judgment of the professional carers and H&S advisers is needed.
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Posted By Lilian McCartney
we support people in their homes and its their electrical appliances our Support Workers use.
We had a great debate about this and pat tested some Service Users equipment (with their consent) to get an idea of what was out there and what condition.
The results were eye opening with some people using appliances that were condemed - which I guess happens in some households as well.
Where we have employees there for a reasonable length of time we PAT test. This keeps our employees safe and also our Service Users.
Where we are short term in the persons house we can get their appliances added to the list if they so wish. Our employees shouldn't use any appliances we haven't 'cleared' first either at the original assessment or ongoing observation.
People who are unable to identify/recognise problems need some extra help with this and I think its good practice to at least offer them (possibly via their representative) pat testing.
Hope this helps.
Lilian
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