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PAT Testing
Friday, 6 April 2007
112 CommentsPAT, or Portable Appliance Testing, is one of my pet grumbles. Not the PAT itself, as a qualified PAT tester I understand the necessity for testing of equipment, but my grumble is about many of the people who carry it out. The television show, Rogue Traders, would have a field day with some of these people. However, before I start my rant I am sure there are all sorts of well respected, hard working, honest individuals out there who conduct tests honestly and reliably – but how do you tell the good ones from the bad?
In my experience, and I have seen a fair few of them at work, there are very few people carrying out PAT who really understand the requirement and the process. Often, PAT will be described by a potential supplier as a legal requirement when a PAT itself is not actually a legal requirement, it is simply a means to an end. The purpose of equipment testing is to provide a safe working environment and to be seen to be safe – quite often PAT requires little more than a visual check and it is important to know which test to apply under which scenario.
In the past I have had to escort one particular PAT testers off the premises as they had been cancelled yet still turned up on a Saturday morning when a production shift was in and they blagged their way into the offices. Once the job is done, they want to get paid right? Wrong mister.
Let me illustrate with an example. Our latest PAT tester was carrying out tests and labelling the devices with a test date two months prior to the date he was actually conducting the test. When I quizzed him about it he assured me all was ok and he was simply using the date when he had started PAT testing our equipment. He also told me it would be silly to put the actual test date on each label as that would make updating his computer records more time consuming. Hang on a minute, you are putting an invalid date on the test labels aren’t you? He eventually became shirty and stopped talking to me.
Now, he’s tested our Hewlett Packard A3 8150 duplex printer which I can tell you is a helluva large piece of equipment, heavy too which is why it has not been moved in the five years it has been in place. But there it is – all labelled up. But what is this? He had not tested the christmas lights on the christmas tree right by the printer. Now, which do you think is most likely to pose a health and safety hazard due to being moved as a portable appliance?
It also annoys me when they insist on fully testing double-insulated cables. They are double-insulated for lords sake. They do not need a full test – just a visual check to enure they are not physically damaged. But no, lets disconnect everything – blast it on his DESTROYER1000, or whatever it is called, piece of testing equipment that he lumbers around. I cannot begin to tell you the number of monitors that have been popped over the years as a result of the DESTROYER1000. Co-incidence? I do not think so.
Brand new equipment, it has all been tested. Brand new equipment does not need testing for its first 12 months of life. Come on, read the flippin’ paperwork will you.
He has tested my laptop power lead and the other laptop power leads he can see. This is the power lead on the floor, not the one in my laptop bag, nor the one at home in my home study. Same goes for everyone else in the office with a laptop. So how safe are we I wonder? Where was was the question – do you have any other cables with these devices?
Oh, and he is paid ‘piece work’ so thank you very much for mentioning the christmas lights and extra leads – I will get onto them right away. The next morning I am left with non-working equipment. Equipment that has not been plugged back in, routed back into place, and equipment that does not work any more for some ‘strange’ reason that is left for me to deal with. The number of trip hazards has increased massively as the tester seems to feel it is out of their remit to put the equipment back where they found it.
And guess what, it will not be a year before he is back – because he has mislabelled the equipment. He, or one of his colleagues, will be back in nine months time for another pocket full of cash.
There really should be some check or regulation in place to ensure the people we rely on to ensure our equipment is safe are actually qualified, experienced and knowledgeable enough, to do the job.
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I can sympathise to a degree with poor wages. As you say a cleaner may earn what you get after expenses but the cleaner is not endangering lives or missing potential fire hazards if they miss a bit of dust.
When a person accepts a vacancy within a firm they should know whether or not it is a cowboy outfit within a week. (I’ve worked for quite a few over the years). If it is a cowboy outfit LEAVE. Get another job. Go to trading standards, watchdog etc. Peoples lives and livelihoods are in contractors hands every day so we have got to ensure these are preserved.
The people having the PAT testing carried out didn’t force you into the job so I see no reason why they should suffer by having just a label stuck on.
However bad your company is there is NO EXCUSE for not doing the job you are paid to do.
Hypothetical this next bit and is not aimed at Ben.
Lets do the maths. Target of 200 tests per day or 1000 a week. Over a year based on 48 wks thats 48000 tests. Lets say that 24000 of these appliances are not tested and 1 in every 1000 appliances are faulty. 24 appliances could potentially cause fatalities through fire or electrocution.
Could all the people who just put labels on live with themselves if any person lost their business or their lives through your negligence. If you say yes to this then PAT testing is not for you.
Rant over
Andy
Further to the comments about PAT engineers I wholheartedly agree that the majority of engineers are either ignorant of the guidance regulations or just plain ignore them. Over the years, I have found that most of the companies that we have followed on from have not changed fuses to the correct rating, have obviously not unscrewed the plug top and checked that each individual cable terminal is tight, have not noticed that the extension lead in use is actually a double insulated cable and does not even contain an earth wire. These plethora of companies also spurt forth the same old rubbish that IT equipment in an office environment should be tested every year
See link for the correct initial inspection frequencies. http://www.omegapat.co.uk/what-is-the-frequency-of-testing.html#5
There are very few ways to ensure that a contractor is actually competent and going for the cheapest price certainly is not one of them. Companies that are accredited (ECA, SAFEcontractor, etc, etc) should be considered first of all and, even thought this is not a 100% guarantee of excellence, it does prove that the company can follow basic procedures and H & S requirements.
One of the ways we advise cients about choosing a company is to suggest that they arm themselves with a copy of the Codes of practice for In Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment and INSIST that any engineer attending site will not be allowed access without a copy in their posession. Engineers should also be expected to have produced a risk assessment, method statement and show copies of their C & G qualification.
Whenever we attend a client and find that the previous company has NOT done its job, we ask permission from our client to pursue the offender for an explanation in writing with possible complaints to trading standards.
Just a further note about class II equipment. The codes of practice clearly state that class II equipment does not actually need to be tested JUST visually inspected. This applies to certain environments only – offices and shops and hotels.
We would consider that class II heating appliances should be tested fully, however.
[...] to believe. how many visuals in that 250 per day??? etc etc etc. Read Jason Slater Technology blog PAT Testing | Jason Slater Technology Blog | Featured and theres much more where that came from!! If however you are a tester with morals then all the [...]
A few really good points Omega, especially about many testers being ignorant of the facts, but I think you are getting a bit bogged down and being rather pc, IMHO, and ranting on about the code of practice, which incidentally, is not specific about certain appliances. How the hell is the client supposed to understand it, when the main bodies cannot even agree on what is a decent and proper testing regime? do your guys just go round testing the odd lead and kettle then? If so how do you price it? It is a good question one which i will raise again and got a very good answer form Andy Kearns, about the whole testing regime thing, if you go round testing only certain stuff maybe it should be on a time basis. And although I am ECA registered, I dont necessarily agree about having to be this or that registered, its not worth a light, its all about what tester you get on the day, and whether they know what they are doing – are they competent??
I think the whole piece rate thing has started this downward spiral of price, and now the cowboys win every time. Something has got to be done about it – big time.
now thats my rant over!!! Have a happy day everyone!
Grant
Hi guy’s,
Yeah got to go with Grant on this one. Many good points raised by Omega but realistically, we are losing out on thousands of pounds worth of work every month at the moment because there are companies out there who keep undercutting us to an average of £0.70p – £0.80p which as we all know, means this company are not carrying out the work to any standard what so ever. I guess my point is that we are having to fight tooth and nail to regain our current customers without starting to change our frequency of testing! As far as I am concerned, we always consult the customer, who many times ask my opinion on frequency of tests, but I will always recommend a full blanket test of the premises so nothing gets missed, there is no crossover period etc and if the client is happy with this then happy days. It’s not as if we are doing it behind their backs, as I said, particularly in the current climate with companies tightening the purse strings I tell them the recommendations and they make a decision. On the same note about SAFEcontractor, we are both safecontractor and CHAS approved contractors and it has done absolutely nothing for us what so ever, unfortunately as long as people are charging £0.70p a test I really am stuck as to what we can do to compete with them as it is the price the client will look at unfortunately, not the service offered or the h&s scheme you are affiliated with.
Rant over ….. for now!!
Well said Grant with regards to the tester. I am NICEIC registered but can send testers out in the field unqualified. I am the person who has been approved as competent. No one else within the company has to be. This is where problems arise. Every person should be qualified and in the event of a problem should be liable to prosecution. Most of the companies who are paying their staff peanuts are the larger companies who are accredited with several of the bodies, they tend to have SAFEcontractor status etc and ISO certification but the staff don’t test the item as they can’t afford to.
Great post and very informative!! Thanks
I was out PAT testing today and came across a situation which I had never come across before and ended up arguing with another spark regarding a location of a socket. The socket powering a class 1 convector heated is located in a washroom which has a toilet and a sink. It was 10 cm away from the basin of the toilet just below the basin and was fractional away from the pipes therefore not directly underneath. All these above factors ensure that it is not in breach of any regulations within 7671 but could be in breach if the toilet ever requires repair. As most of us know blokes do miss the bowl from time to time so I was not happy with the location due to the potential problems that could occur so took the heater out of the washroom tested it and passed the heater (now located in the hallway) and recommended the client to think carefully about using the socket in the washroom. He phoned the spark who had fitted the socket and voiced my concerns then I spoke to the spark which led to an argument on his commonsense. I know he has not breached any regs but where would we stand if anything went wrong.
This type of situation is not covered in section 7 as it is not a special location like a bathroom and section 5 is extremely vague although it does touch on accessories in close proximity to non-electrical services although for the socket to be a breach it would need to be underneath the pipework.
Any help or suggested would be welcomed as I personally feel that this situation lacks all commonsense but yet can be done anywhere. Surely our job is to ensure safety and on this occasion the regs do not help anyone
Hi Andy and All,
I have to say that this forum is going from strength to strength. So many topical subjects. The one thing that stands out is the many comments about the 79p Brigade”. I too believe that clients do not care about the quality of the work carried out, only the price per item. As long as they have green stickers on the appliances then they are happy and believe they have fulfilled there requirements.
I use this forum to show my customers of the risks and potential hazards of using these. But I also try to be subjective, not all £0.79p companies are cowboys. I am sure many are diligent, but what stood out for me was that there is no national PAT register/ Safe working scheme for PAT Tester. I know Andy has mentioned it, but what is the status so far. I believe I can help you with this Andy. Contact me if you need some assistance.
Hi GKC
Everything is on hold at the moment until I sit my final ou exams in October. It wouldn’t normally be delayed by so long but I’m fortunate that I’m busy with work until then as well.
I would definately take up your offer of assistance. I beleive it could be a mayor leap forward for the industry.
If you could email your contact details to myself it would be much appreciated
Thanks
Andy
sales@highlandtestingltd.co.uk
I agree James , I run a electrical contracting business and we provide pat testing services around Scotland . We have many clients who understand the importance of a qualified tester but many however do not . As you say , as long as the stickers on the machine many business owners just want a low price . We find it very hard to supply a quality portable appliance test for less than £1 an item . I get many calls from the 79p crew asking our hourly rate , many are just a call centre who subcontract the actual work. Regulation are required in the UK for pat testing to stop these rouge traders