There is a legal duty for all employers from the largest Companies to the Self-Employed to ensure that all equipment provided for employees in the course of their work or Equipment that is accesable by the public is safe and will not cause injury - That requires Companies, Busnesses, Schools, Councils and the Self-employed to conduct and evidence a scheme of routine in service Safety Inspection and maintenance of all hand-held, portable and plug-in equipment in the workplace.
Portable Appliance Testing (Also known as PAT Inspection, PAT Testing or simply PAT is the most commonly recognised scheme in the UK for assuring safety of Electrical Appliances and compliance of current Health and Safety Legislation.
The Legislation and Acts of the most relevance are:
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974,
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999,
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989,
The Provision and Use of Equipment at Work Regulations 1998.
More good reasons to have and maintain a programme of Portable Appliance Testing are to reduce the risk of fire and/or injury, To comply with the requirements of Your Insurance Policies - most promently Your Employer's Liability Insurance and Your Public Liability Insurance both require PAT to be Valid - Without PAT Your Insurances could easily be deemed null and void.
PAT is also a requirement to meet industry standards such as ISO9000/1 and BS5750.
Who Exactly Needs their Appliances Testing?:
A list of those that need PAT can be found Here.
How Often Do I need to have my Appliances tested?:
Read More On the Frequency Of Testing Here.
My Appliances are less than 12 months old - Do they need Testing?
Yes - All Equipment coming into your care must undergo a Portable Appliance Test and the results recorded. For example some faults we have found previously with new equipment include appliances that have had earthing points added after powder coating (the paint finish will insulate the earth point) and IEC/Kettle Leads of a cheaper international origin that are not manufactured with fake British Standard Markings that appear to be a three-pin lead with earth from the outside but are infact only Two core wire without earth on the inside - In both cases the faults were found and workplace incidents prevented thanks to Portable Appliance testing (PAT).
