Government Business

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) has been much misunderstood, and has accrued a lot of superfluous baggage. It has even acquired an unnecessary additional “testing” in its name, with many people insisting on calling it PAT testing.
 
Currently, the ongoing drive to greater environmental responsibility means that PAT confusion may crop up in a different guise as more public sector bosses consider having staff work from home. Uncertainty about what exactly PAT entails means some bosses, wary of wandering into what they perceive as a legal minefield, splash out on unnecessary training, or refuse to even countenance flexibility in working practices.
 
Happily, those considering a review of office working patterns might be pleased to know that there are more surpluses surrounding PAT than mere repetition in its name.

Risk prevention
None of this should detract from the importance of PAT however. Leads, plugs, even equipment itself, can become damaged, resulting in electric shocks which can be fatal. No-one should have to pay such a price for negligence through such easily preventable accidents. There can be no excuse for negligence, especially when compliance is so easy. The law (Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989) simply states that systems should be maintained to prevent danger, as far as is practicable. Employers merely need to assess risks and take appropriate actions.
 
But what is portable equipment anyway? In general terms, anything with a cable and a plug – from kettles to cleaners and photocopiers to printers – is covered by the description, meaning that many items in day-to-day use in both home and office are included, not all of them necessarily “portable”.

Staff training
A simple, cost-effective way to protect your staff’s wellbeing as they use electrical equipment at home, or indeed in the office, is to train them in what to look for. Most accidents or faults will be prevented in this way, and the training need not be complicated or expensive. In fact, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) estimates that around 95 per cent of accidents and faults could be prevented by a simple visual inspection. This, of course, does not require a qualified electrician – anyone can be trained to look for the danger signs, which include abrasion on the cable, cracked casing or bent pins on a plug, obvious loose parts or screws, or overheating.
 
So in terms of maintenance, an electrician is not necessary for most equipment used in low risk environments. Any competent member of staff can do it if they have been given enough knowledge, which can be gained by the type of simple training offered by many organisations.
 
Vital but easy
Of course, there are some distinctives surrounding PAT at home. For example, if a worker’s desktop lamp pops and they discover a blown fuse is to blame, it is not enough that the fuse be replaced and work continues as before. The worker needs to get a competent person in to have a look at the lamp to identify what caused the problem in the first place.
 
And while visual testing is entirely appropriate and should be encouraged in all circumstances, some equipment does require testing with the proper kit and by the proper person. Not that “proper person” signals the need for masses of training courses for multitudes of staff. Rather, train one or two people per team and get them to test equipment when you all get together at the office for team meetings – this is much more effective than throwing resources away by having a competent person visit each worker in their own home. The question of which equipment requires testing, and the frequency with which it should be tested, depends on when and where, or how, it is used. In short, PAT is vital but easy. 

For more information
Please visit www.rospa.com for more information about RoSPA, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for health and safety training queries, or call 0121 248 2233 or 0131 449 9378 in Scotland. Additional information can also be found in The Health and Safety Executive’s guidance on PAT, at www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg236.pdf