We are currently working on the installation of anumber of EV charging points.  We have thought about where we should put them around the safest place and where they are most accessible.  So we have decided that we are going to put two of them in the front car park of the depot, this allows easy access for our own needs and that of our customers.  As we are a plant hire business we are also installing one in our loading bay, this is with the view to charging items of electrical plant.  The beauty of this is that they are not in close proximity of any fuel sources of our haz chem store.  

EV charging points should be located outside of the DSEAR Hazard zone(s) relevant to the fuel storage areas on your site. You should check the DSEAR Risk Assessment and the accompanying plan showing the extent of these hazard zones. You may find more information on the APEA website... www.apea.org.uk 

Unless you have a way of pressurising the diesel (with a risk of spray leaks), which is unlikely for normal open line refuelling of vehicles - then in the UK diesel for the purposes of DSEAR can be considered to be non hazardous, with no hazardous area zoning required.

For LPG propane tanks your hazardous area/separtion distance will depend on the size of the tanks. A separation distance of 3m is a good starting point - the information is on the HSE website.

Petrol - I'm assuming you aren't refualling with petrol? 

This is where company lawyers come in: who owns the charging set up? Has it been given to the employees so that once it has been supplied it is the responsible of its new owners. Their only come back if something goes wrong is if is down to poor installation. On the other hand if the employer continues to be responsible for it and in effect owns it then they remain liable (probably) it should all be written into the contract between the employer and employees…

If there is no such agreement and it is as clear as mud, then you can understand how lawyers can make so much money trying put in place retrospectively things  which should of have been built in from the start.  

Real grey area.

Our firm is offering Battery EV but the installation of any home charging point is down to the employee on the premis it is their property, their domestic electricity supply contract and their domestic insurance.

May be drifting in to unknown Benefit In Kind territory giving away a free charging installation as the kit and fitting are not cheap (but that is for the bean counters to worry about, been a while since I saw a copy of HMRC 480 Expenses and benefits - A tax guide).

Originally Posted by: Mark-W

Thanks for the advice. As far as I'm aware there is no agreement. The managers were asked if they wanted a home charging point. Some took the offer and some refused.

There was no written agreement offered let alone signed to ensure a line in the sand so to speak of responsibilitys.

I'll speak to the operations director and see what he has to say about it all.

The other thing is that you need to be sure that the installation has been done correctly, as work may be required on the installation prior to the charge point being fitted.

Plus the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) must be notified, this is very important, and you need to be sure that this has been done with the appropriate forms.  This is NOT the company that your employees pay their electricity bill to.

If people keep adding load on the local mains eventually the sub-station circuit trips and everyone is without power - the distribution company need to ensure the local sub-station is capable of handling the load in the area.

It is down to the installer to inform the network operator of the load being applied not only as Amps but quantity e.g. 1 x 32A or 2x16A. This is especially important where multiple additional points are subsequently added.

Had never come across a free standing charger so I googled it (always dangerous I know).  The only ones I can find appear to be aimed at the domestic market and connect to a standard distribution board.

They look to be little more than an “adaptor socket” so you can plug in an electric car charger. Very different to the commercial chargers fit outside shops etc – or am I missing the obvious?

Sounds more like a poor installation would suggest contacting the manufacturer for their opinion 

I've raised it and decomissioned the power until its resolved