pat testing

[still learning.]

hi, my brother works in a warehouse and they have just had their pat testing done but there were some items that were missed, I was just wondering if the company doesn't get them tested or not tested before the 12 months from when they were tested last year, do they have to be unplugged and not used? if they are used before they are tested is the company breaking any laws or is there a grace period?

 

[SKY]

Pat testing is not actually a legal requirement, the company has to ensure by law that electrical items are safe for the user and are fit for their intended use.
It will come down to the companies policy if they allow it to be used.

I have seen PAT testing being done by some major PAT testing companies and to be honest I don't think its worth the paper its printed on in some cases.
The price per item is so low that I have seen people just stickering items without actually doing a test.

 

[Adam W]

As SKY said there's no specific legal requirement to get PAT testing done at all, in fact a lot of companies only bother with it because their insurance companies specify it must be done.
In my experience if you just get told to get on with it and test everything you can find you'll always miss a few items, but it's not as if the 'electrical police' are going to come and kick your door down the second a retest is 'due'.

If the items look ok I wouldn't worry about it, just mention them to the tester next time he's in.

 

[SirKit Breaker]

Get the user of the equipment to give it a visual check prior to use, which is actually the minimum requirement for in service test and inspection of a piece of electrical equipment. It is only a recommendation though. However if it is found to have a problem and then it is still allowed to remain in service and someone gets injured the s*** will hit the fan. This is because it becomes a health and safety issue, and also falls within the Electricity at Work regulations, which are statutory and they will be used to beat you to a pulp in a big way if they are fallen foul of.

So to sum up, if you kit is Ok visually, and is in full working order, then all is probably well, especially class 2 (generally plastic) or 110v equipment.

If anything looks dodgy, then either get it repaired or replace it, but at least take it out of service so no harm can be done.

Cheers.......Howard