If you work in one of the grander offices in London it is worth discovering what your businesses policy is for Portable Appliance Testing ( PAT Testing ). Every piece of machinery in the office and work place should be checked to ensure it is in line with the Electricity at Work Regulations 1998 which states that “As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent so far as reasonably practicable, such danger.” Fundamentally this means that every piece of electrical equipment that has a plug on it needs to be regularly checked to ensure its continued safety in the work place and as is often the case may have been over looked. Any piece of electrical gear that has been PAT tested will have a PAT testing sticker attached to it saying when the gear was checked and which company checked it.
Not only does this help show in the case of an accident that the employer has been looking out for its employees but also ensures that any faults will not be the origin of a loss of life or fire in the work premises. The alternative reasons this is advisable is that if you are ever visited by health and safety officers or fire officers the initial things they will probably ask you for is to look at your Portable Appliance Testing records. The provision and use of work equipment regulations state that “every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adopted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided”. Legal speak but when it comes down to it, it basically means that if you use unsafe equipment at work you are at fault.
Anually there are about 1000 incidents in the work place that involve electric shocks or burns, and these are just the ones that are reported to the Health and Safety Executive. About 30 of the incidents are terminal. With insurance businesses tightening the policy that they put forward to businesses with more and more limitations to payouts. Health & Safety standards and ISO standards are gradually getting stricter as to what is adequate in the work place and most businesses need to ensure that they are complying with their fire risk assessment responsibilities.
Basically this boils down to the fact that person has a responsibility to make sure that they are attentive of the gear they are working with, and if there are no stickers on your gear saying whether it has been safety checked. Speak to one of your bosses or call a local PAT testing company to ensure you and the people you work with stay safe.

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For advice on PAT Testing or to find some more frquently asked questions on Portable Appliance Testing be sure to check out the links.