PAT Engineer Vacancy 300+ Tests A Day

[scp]

I dont work before I start its all pre configured software all I need to do is stamp my labels set site code in the tester and test away.
The point of this topic was a job advertised at 300 tests a day and people with no knowledge of how the bigger industry works and I have tried to provide an insight to the unknowing as knowledge is power and may allow people with determination to compete with the big companys.
And I have every right to call myself a pat engineer ( though the correct terminology is electrical test engineer ) as I have all of my electrical qualifications and have chosen to use them to show that not all people in the industry are cowboys and there is more to testing than a cash cow I dedicate my knowlegde to saving lives as pat testing was created for as iv said I come highly recommended and have a returning client base who all had the same point of view as most of you here I wouldnt have that if I lied to clients by telling them 300 to 500 a day is possible and not being able to fulfil that doing the job legally and to guidelines.
And I think you will find advertising a job incorrectly is illegal so why would a company advertise a job if it couldnt be done.

 

[stuartcourt]

would be interested in learning more if you can show us as I take it this is the way it is going, is it only large jobs you would do.

 

[markc123]

I dont work before I start its all pre configured software all I need to do is stamp my labels set site code in the tester and test away.
The point of this topic was a job advertised at 300 tests a day and people with no knowledge of how the bigger industry works and I have tried to provide an insight to the unknowing as knowledge is power and may allow people with determination to compete with the big companys.
And I have every right to call myself a pat engineer ( though the correct terminology is electrical test engineer ) as I have all of my electrical qualifications and have chosen to use them to show that not all people in the industry are cowboys and there is more to testing than a cash cow I dedicate my knowlegde to saving lives as pat testing was created for as iv said I come highly recommended and have a returning client base who all had the same point of view as most of you here I wouldnt have that if I lied to clients by telling them 300 to 500 a day is possible and not being able to fulfil that doing the job legally and to guidelines.
And I think you will find advertising a job incorrectly is illegal so why would a company advertise a job if it couldnt be done.

Google Engineer.

 

[scp]

No I do any jobs the other day I was doing hoovers at two tests a pop for a uk wide fm company at a multi site day rate, my point is 300 to 500 can be done but an engineer who cares about safety dosnt care about numbers if you have one test or six months work you are entitled to a correct test on all equipment.
As iv said you can either hire a company like the one I work for or I will post a video at some stage and I dont work for the advertising company or know the way they test to endorse them.

 

[stuartcourt]

Cheers if you can would be really interested

 

[scp]

Gloucester based Epsilon Test Services was formed in 1993. The company specialises in electrical safety test services; portable appliance testing (PAT), periodic fixed installation testing and thermal imaging. The company employs over 140 engineers across the UK, all qualified to City & Guilds 2377 or 2391. Epsilon’s clients include many of the UK’s largest facilities management organisations and blue chip companies. The business invests heavily in technology and has lead innovation in the development of specialist software for electrical testing, leading to advanced reporting plus efficiency savings that create a service/price proposition that Epsilon claim is unbeaten. Epsilon holds Beacon status: an award given to those companies who can demonstrate outstanding achievement across a range of criteria, including significant improvements in productivity and performance, profitability, work culture and innovation. Beacon South West members play an important role in cultivating enterprise excellence in the region.
Though this company was brought out by bog cleaners and would never recommend them to anyone as they now use unqualified staff.

 

[scp]

Please read heavy investment in technoligy and innovation in specialised software like iv said its software not on the open market so how clever you think you are spouting pages from the guidelines like it states your an oldtimer and you may have the current guidelines book in front of you but you have never had access to the software or programmed tools so go back to your megger and blowing up pc power supplies and let me educate people who are actually interested in the part of the industry inaccessible to the ordinary engineer / electrician who wants to educate themselves to be able to compete, how many awards did you achieve moving an industry forward oldtimer thats right none!!!!!!

 

[UNG]

As normal here we go with the cafe surfing sparkies who spend there life scratching there head and spent so much of there life on building sites they think that the whole world stops at two oclock with five tea breaks and an hour lunch in between.

You obviously have as poor an opinion of us sparks as we have of you and your testing

No I dont live in disney land so lets get this straight.

More like cloud nine or that pie in the sky

It is site dependent as is all pat testing and you dont hand write labels.
1. Read prior posts before posting comments that have been answered.
THE SOFTWARE THAT I USE IS NOT ON THE OPEN MARKET SO HOW CAN YOU COMMENT AND SAY IT IS IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU HAVNT USED IT.

Given the little or lack of information you log there is very little that is special about your software and is probably little more than a simple excel spreadsheet

Thats like going to a village in the rain forest and explaining you can do 150 mph to people who have never seen a car.
Any professional pat tester who knows there job when testing preperation is the biggest key you ask your contact to send a batch email to make people aware you are testing and all pcs etc must be shutdown and if you are good at your job you will find when your testing a batch of desks in an office the next set will be shut down and ready for testing when you finish the first desk.

You live in such a world that doesn't exist as it is too ideal too be true

Please note it is not listed as dell 17" 1087t and your mental if you want to write all this out.
each item is provided a separate barcoded label so it is a vdu with the represented barcode allready listed in the pda as it rolls over from the first numbered increment so it tap vdu from the drop down menu and tap pass.
Make model and serial are charged extra to the client if they want it as are fuse listings but its another drop down box and all you do is select the fuse size though we only use it if we replace a fuse to the correct rating or perform a repair.

So you and / or your company charge extra for actually logging the appliances that are tested properly and providing an identifiable appliance audit trail unlike your basic slapdash system

As most people like me are on a price per test no I dont do lunch breaks i tend to eat in the van on the way to work or on the way home and yes it keeps me very fit not a job for sparkies who do fry ups down the cafe and I have been likend to a robot many a time but you find when your testing at a constant rate you tend not to notice time as your constantly checking leads cases etc for all the normal fault signs not eyeing up the blonde and wondering how long before your next sausage sandwich is or weather the bird on page 3 is any good while ur having a dump for an hour if you are this type of person save yourself the agro and quote your 1.50 a test and google one of the big companys and let them do it for 50p a test and you can earn a pound a pop for your copious amounts of slimfast you will need in ten years when your butt is to big to fit in your transit.

As you don't eat or drink this will obviously save on comfort breaks, even a robot would be unable to test at this speed and produce meaningful data. As for using your company for appliance testing I and assume others on this forum have reputations to protect and have clients that have higher standards than you work to

If anyone has sensible things to say other than peter pan comments I am happy to help if you feel you may benifit in moving your company forward to testing large ammounts.
And thanks for the maths lesson in real terms it equates to just under 1 test per minute and that is more than achevable if you set up properly and pre stamp your labels using a label stamp. I dont stick labels on 1.5v barcode scanners etc to make up the numbers that was a company called p*wer plus who went round with pass fail led testers at 10p a test who no longer exsists.
Remember pat testing is about taking legal responsibility and I am the first who agrees companys that lick and stick should be banned from testing full stop and the job is to save lives and should be carried out by following the guidelines to the letter and alot of faults I find are from bodge sparkies who havnt got a clue about correct loads to fuse sizes and burn the neutral to bits with incorrect cable sizes.
As I have said if you wish to cover my time I am happy to demonstrate it is more than possible that 300 to 500 tests per day can be done correctly and legally and following the guidelines to the letter.

While you appear to be trying to put yourself on the moral high ground you are as transparent as a piece of glass appliance testing is not just about saving lives it is about proving proper and adequate mantainance as required by the EAWR other than a simple sticker that could be easily replicated you have no other means of identifying anything you have tested beyond the resonable doubt a court of law would require if an injury or fatality occurred following it being tested
With your last paragraph I can only suggest you need to review your procedures in order to comply with the requirements as it is your legal resposibility

 

[UNG]

Please read heavy investment in technoligy and innovation in specialised software like iv said its software not on the open market so how clever you think you are spouting pages from the guidelines like it states your an oldtimer and you may have the current guidelines book in front of you but you have never had access to the software or programmed tools so go back to your megger and blowing up pc power supplies and let me educate people who are actually interested in the part of the industry inaccessible to the ordinary engineer / electrician who wants to educate themselves to be able to compete, how many awards did you achieve moving an industry forward oldtimer thats right none!!!!!!

Heavy investment in technology means no 50p tests as the overheads would be too high

Just had a look at the Seaward website why would you want to reprogramme a test time that is only 2 seconds as standard to save yourself at most a second

You are so up your own $*^$ (insert appropriate word) and full of a lack of a comfort break that you have to be a troll

 

[grantr37]

Pants over Head :rolleyes2:

 

[oldtimer]

I don't know if you are either delusional or pretentious or even both don't get me wrong you are certainly confident in your abilities so please forgive me for being cynical but to he honest I have seen guys like you too many times and sadly its people like you who have brought PAT testing to its knees plus you tick the boxes of a bitter individual who was in a dead end job and now you have found a new religion in PAT . Like most of the guys who have replied I have followed guys like you where the client only has a list of numbers on what has been tested he has no assset list or cat I or II ,fuse,make,model serial number. I have lost count the ammount of fuses I have had to replace or hoover leads I have had to repair because the "professional PAT engineers" who I have followed never bothered to check.

So I find it breathtaking in my view your pompous statement of how many lives saved are being saved but then again if it was not for individuals like you I would not be getting calls from concerned customers.

To sum up you are basically what we call in the trade as a "Sticker Jockey" who is a risk to himself and others the whole idea of PAT was to test equipment for safety and the only thing is after the HSE review there is only one way this is going ie the test periods are going to increase meaning less work for the sticker jockeys and some will go out of business.

Also if I may be so bold to ask what is your background before PAT ?

 

[Olec]

Don't care what NASA software you think you've got, if you are regularly testing each appliance in less than a minute, you are simply missing issues during inspection, which anyone that has any knowledge of pat testing knows this is where the majority of faults are found.

 

[Olec]

"flick it over and look for signs of burning snapped pins etc plug into your tester and check for case damage on the top WHILE pressing the button to test"


I do hope you are not testing before you have satisfied that the appliance is safe to put to the tester through a visual inspection!

 

[UNG]

Oldtimer well summed up had similar experiences to yours of mopping up after the whirling dervish PAT thing flew through on one occasion only half the appliances had been tested and some of those where sat next to ones that had been "tested"

15 years of PAT testing has addled his brain very sad really and I'm not sure if it is treatable when it gets that bad

May be the Guinness book of records should have a record for the number appliances PROPERLY tested and documented in one 8 hour shift

 

[IQ Electrical]

Interesting thread!
We rarely get involved with PAT because we can't/won't compete on price terms.
It's all very well having the best software, the fastest test instrument and a good routine but that can never offset the problems that seem to be common to every job:

1 Finding the 1 member of staff that knew you were due to do the PAT and explaining procedures and what you need from the rest of the staff
2 The massive tangle of leads/extensions/chargers/ hidden beneath each desk/workstation
3 Uncooperative staff who 'can't shut down yet because.....'
4 Gaining access to different rooms, sorting keys and fobs for swipe locks etc.

Just thinking about those 4 things makes you realise that the 'fully compliant 1 minute per item test' is absolutely impossible.