Rank: Guest 
|
Posted By Martin Thorpe
What kind of regime do you have for NEW portable electrical appliances in an office? Do you carry out any inspection/testing for new equipment?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By John Lewis
This has been up for over ten minutes and nobody has replied to it yet, so here goes.
The procedure I have in place calls for any electrical item to be held in stores until the maintenance department have been to examine it. This goes for everything electrical including telephone chargers and the like. The reason behind this is that it gives the sparkies a chance to PAT test items that need to be tested and to record items that do not, sticking a label to all with either an expiry date or a next visual inspection date.
John
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By CFT
Martin
IMO; new portable electrical equipment should be visually inspected prior to use, however formal testing by a competent person does not need to be specifically arranged but it must be put onto the register and included on the next scheduled test. In addition to this, proof of purchase should be retained and kept with the electrical register until it has been formally tested.
CFT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By stevehaigh
I always thought it was voluntary to PAT test therefore it should be based on your procedures. However I do agree with CFT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By CFT
Steve
You are kind of right, in-so much there is no specific regulation that states "you must PA test or else" and it is therefore as you suggest on a ‘voluntary’ basis; that is where the fun starts when you look at key legislation (from a descriptive view-point) Puwer, The Electricity at Work Regulations, & The "Health and Safety at Work act" (1974) puts a duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises.
Landlords and letting agents are also duty bound to ensure any appliances supplied as part of a tenancy are safe.
"The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations" 1998 requires every employer to ensure that equipment is suitable for the use for which it is provided (reg 4 (1) and only used for work for which it is suitable (Reg 4(3), The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, states that "Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided." (Regulation 4(1). This includes all work equipment (fixed, portable or transportable) connected to a source of electrical energy."
So you see it's not really a voluntary thing when you break the descriptive nature of our good ol legislation down.
Charley
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By stevehaigh
Nicely said
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By A.Dennis
I agree have a quick visual inspection of new stuff - assuming it has a CE mark.
Then it's up to you and your assessment of risk. It could be you decide to do kettles every six months and PC's every six years.
Alternatviely it may be cheaper to buy a new kettle every six months.
The PC's will need inspected more regularly if you have rats/mice.
A
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Guest
|
Posted By Alan Spiers
Suggest you consider HSE myth of the month for July and INDG 236. Low risk equipment in low risk environments is often routinely tested every year and the only contribution is to keep the tester employed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.