Why do we have PAT Testing?
Electrical appliances should start off
perfectly safe, but with use can deteriorate to an extent there is a risk of an
electric shock or a fire, just as regular MOT checks ensure the safety of cars
on the road, Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) ensures that electrical
appliances continue to be safe to use.
For example, a vacuum cleaner would be used heavily in a school or a hotel, in time it is likely that the cable may start pulling out of the plug or the wire could start fraying.
If you don’t have a system of maintenance where these types of faults are picked up and put right it is very likely that someone would get an electric shock.
An example where there would be risk of fire is where a blown fuse has been replaced with one of the wrong value or even worse, by a piece of tin foil. As shocking as this may seem there are many examples where this is done to save time. The intention is to replace the tin-foil or temporary fuse with the correct fuse at a later stage but somehow this never gets done.
If the appliance were to develop a fault
then the tin-foil or incorrect fuse will not act as the correct fuse is
intended and there is a risk of a fire breaking out.
Increasingly, insurance companies are stipulating Portable Appliance Testing as a necessary condition of insurance on most businesses. If there was a fire and the management in the company could not show regular PAT Testing had been carried out, some insurance companies could take this into account when arriving at settlement figures.
In addition to the all these reasons, there are a number of Health & Safety regulations that are in place to protect employees from danger. These imply directly or indirectly that employers have to ensure that electrical appliances do not cause any danger to staff. The easiest way to adhere to these regulations is to have all your appliances PAT Tested on a regular basis.
29 Burdon Close, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 4ES.
0800 270 7622