Portable Appliance Testing is a routine examination of your electrical appliances to ensure they are safe to use.
Employers and private landlords have a legal responsibility to keep their employees and tenants safe and PAT testing is one of the most effective ways to do this. PAT testing complies with Health and Safety at Work Regulations.
The test ensures electrical equipment is safe to use by checking for damage or malfunction. Any portable appliances including fridges, ovens, cookers, washing machines should be included in the inspection. Our fully qualified assessors will carry out a visual inspection and a more in-depth check using specialist equipment which tests continuity, lead polarity, and insulation resistance checks.
PAT testing complies with the following regulations:
Health and Safety Act of 1974
Electricity at work Regulations of 1989
Provision and Use of Work Equipment regulations of 1998
Management of Health and Safety at Work regulations of 1999.
To ensure the safety of appliances and therefore tenants or employees is upheld, PAT tests must be carried out annually.
Portable Appliance Testing is a routine examination of your electrical appliances to ensure they are safe to use.
The legislation of specific relevance to electrical maintenance is:
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974:
Places, a duty of care both upon employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This includes the self-employed
The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 state:
“every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of:
(a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work.
(b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking.
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998 state:
“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”
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) 1998:
cover most risks that can result from using work equipment, it should be noted that this includes but is not solely Electrical equipment. With respect to risks from electricity, compliance with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 is likely to achieve compliance with PUWER regulations 5-9, 19 & 22.
PUWER only applies to work equipment used by workers at work. This includes all work equipment (fixed, portable, or transportable) connected to a source of electrical energy. PUWER does not apply to the fixed installations of the building, the safety of these is specifically dealt with in the Electricity at Work Regulations.
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 state:
“As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger”
“System means an electrical system in which all the electrical equipment is, or maybe electrically connected to a common source of electrical energy and includes such source and such equipment”
“Electrical equipment includes anything used, intended to be used or installed for use, to generate, provide, transmit, transform, rectify, convert, conduct, distribute, control, store, measure or use electrical energy”
The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994:
requires, that all mains electrical equipment new or second-hand, supplied with the accommodation must be safe.