Posted By Ian Bruce Opinions on the following scenario would be very much appreciated: A Secure care home for children allows the residents to have access to TV's, radio's, vacuum cleaners etc. These portable appliances are PAT tested upon entrance to the establishment and annually thereafter (by a competent electrician). All circuits are RCD protected and the RCD's checked quarterley by a competent electrician, records are maintained of these checks. Staff who "issue" the appliances visually check them for obvious defects prior to issue (casing, plug, cable) but no records of this inspection are maintained. Weekly, all appliances are visually inspected by the same care staff and a record kept saying that "all electrical appliances are in a sound and undamaged condition". Staff are trained upon induction on basic user safety checks - this training is recorded and provided by a competent electrician. It is likely that tool-box talks on this topic will start very soon. My question is: Have we done everything reasonably practicable to ensure that the children are protected from electric shock?

Posted By J Knight Hi Ian, Agree with Paul's approach, but here's some food for thought. Annual PAT isn't actually required or even recommended by HSE. The frequency of PAT will depend on the nature of the appliance and the environment you're using it in; recommended frequencies are detailed in HSG107, 'Maintaining portable electrical equipment', which goes into some detail. If you want to go the extra mile you should try and use a regime close to HSG107, even though it will be less convenient to monitor and manage; you should certainly read this guidance even if you decide not to adhere to it. It may be, if you have children with behavioural difficulties (or even if you don't), that electrical gear is subject to rough treatment, in which case you will almost certainly need to be testing and inspecting more often, on the other hand your home may be full of little angels, in which case some kit may never need a formal test, John