Regulation & Procedure

The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 requires an employer or duty holder of a public premises to ensure the safety of all persons using premises. It should be demonstrated that all reasonable practicable care, or in some cases absolute care, has been taken.

Regulation 4(2) of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires all electrical appliances to be maintained so as to not give rise to risk of injury, loss or damage. As a result many insurance firms require PAT certification for buildings insurance cover.

In order to comply with legislation for electrical equipment A/C Testing Services offers a professional and thorough portable appliance testing service. A regularly tested and annually calibrated Seaward 350 test device will be used to conduct accurate, efficient and detailed testing with items given an identification number, description and location.

What is involved.....

Appliances will need to be unplugged to be tested.

Portable Appliance Testing requires a thorough visual inspection of the portable appliance to check for:

•Positioning of appliance in terms of health and safety
•Damage to the cable
•Damage to the plug and casing (overheating, burn marks, discolouration)
•An incorrectly wired plug
•An incorrectly rated fuse

A series of electrical tests are then performed. Dependent upon the class of equipment, tests may include:

•Earth Bond Testing
•Insulation Resistance
•Cable Polarity Check
•Earth Leakage Check
•Load Test
•Touch Leakage Test
•Item Function Check

Any remedial action that can be taken during testing (replacing plugs/fuses and other small repairs) will be carried out free of charge. More complex faults or damage are reported to the duty holder.

All appliances are then labelled with a green PASS or red FAIL label with the date of the test.

The results of the tests are then downloaded and presented in a folder with easy to understand reports.