I work at an FE college with the usual mix of portable appliances ranging from fans and computors in theoffice through grinders and cutters in machine shops and a whole host of woodwork tools. We Portable appliance test the whole lot annually and not as per the IEE code of practice: my boss arguing that the code is too onerous and is just good practice and if we fail to keep to that standard we could be liable for prosecution for failing to keep to our policy. I feel that we could also be prosecuted for not following the guideance, although it is not issued by HSE and is not an ACOP. Should something go wrong I also feel we could be sued/prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter for not following the IEE code. Does anybody have any thoughts?

Hi - as you've rightly said the IEE code is not law, however it is the industry acknowledged code and hence is the example of how to ensure that electrical items are safe. If you don't follow it you would need to prove that your own method and frequency was just as safe; which is pretty difficult to do if you're trying to prove your innocence in court BECAUSE of an incident. Do you back up your PAT testing regime with user checks etc?

The thing I hate about PAT is the fact that people think if they do PAT they won't be prosecuted. That's not the case. The Regs esentially say you need to maintain equipment in good condition, not that you need to PAT, whihc just syays it was safe at the point in time. You need a range of measures depending on frequency and type of use as well as type of equipment. Some items need visual inspection as well / instead. PAT can be a real red herring if you're not careful. So in essence. You are wrong and your boss is wrong too. You'll be over testing some things (office equipment etc) and not visually checking other things that need it more often (grinders etc). Th HSE do a great guidance doc on it. Go check their website.