PAT testing

When performing portable appliance testing, you may think you’ve caught everything.  You’ve tested the computers, you’ve thoroughly checked over your kettle and you’ve delved into the quality of your laptop chargers. You probably think you’ve tested everything and are safe for the next year, but what most people don’t remember is that any new items coming into the organisation are also technically subject to a check over. While there isn’t any legal obligation to do so and – technically – anything that comes from a manufacturer should work fine straight out of the box, there’s always the risk that the new portable appliance will have some kind of error. Whether it’s a power lead with reversed polarity or something vitally important like loose wiring, these kinds of problems can and will be a problem with any possible piece of new equipment. Continue reading →

Please note this blog was originally published in July 2012. It was updated on the 30th April 2021. Through its technological advances, the modern world has brought us a lot of new materials, substances, and other goods to make our lives easier, better, and a lot more comfortable. Electricity is one of the most common and most relied upon of the modern inventions; it is, however, still one of the most dangerous if it is misused or its applications of use are underestimated. Continue reading →

A complete guide to electrical safety and portable appliance testing (in service) safety for landlords, including responsibility, regulations, cost and advice. Keeping up with all of the rules and regulations is a potential minefield for any landlord; when this problem involves potentially dangerous electricity, this issue can become even more difficult. We will try and keep this document updated when changes are made to regulations. As guidance on this matter is vague at best we thought we’d try and clear thing up for Landlords asking the questions. Continue reading →

Please note this blog was originally published in July 2012. It was updated on the 5th May 2021 to include new, up-to-date PAT testers.  Portable appliance testing (PAT) is well known to most people who own a business. It is the process whereby all the portable electric appliances a business owns are tested to ensure they meet high standards of safety. Continue reading →

As a landlord you may feel inundated by rules and regulations. When the Health and Safety Executive release guidance on electrical testing do you find yourself worrying about where the guidance stops and the legal obligation begins?  To be fair, their recent guidance on the maintenance of “portable electric equipment in low-risk environments” is clearly summarised on the HSE site, specifically in a six-page PDF document entitled “Maintaining portable electric equipment in low-risk environments”. It’s free to download and well explained, however does this information, for example, take into account the small print on your commercial insurance policy? Continue reading →