Pat Testing Ayrshire - Fortress Security

If you’ve ever had an electrical accident, or know someone that has, you’ll appreciate how important it is to make sure that electrical appliances in the workplace and at home are safe to use. With today’s “Where there’s blame, there’s a claim” culture, it has become more important than ever to make sure that your workplace is as safe as possible for your staff and the public.

Fortress are specialists in the field of Portable Appliance Testing and provide a reliable, professional service at great prices to companies, schools, educational institutions, landlords, letting agents and many other types of organisations. We also partner with Facilities Management companies and Electrical Contractors who trust us to provide a fully managed service to their clients on a sub-contractor basis.

Why You Need Your Appliances Tested

One of the first things Fire Officers and Health & Safety Inspectors usually ask to see on any inspection visit is PAT records. There are a number of additional reasons why appliances should be tested on a regular basis with the most important ones being:

- To comply with The Electricity at Work Regulations
- To comply with the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations
- To minimise the risk of fire and injury caused by electrical appliances.
- Each year about 1000 accidents at work involving electric shock or burns are reported to the Health and Safety Executive. About 30 of these are fatal.
- To satisfy your Insurance Company
- To comply with all Health & Safety requirements and ISO standards
- To comply with Quality Assurances

What The Regulations Say

The UK Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 requires 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”.

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1998 states “As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent so far as reasonably practicable, such danger.”

This means that employers (and the self-employed) have a duty of care to ensure that all electrical work equipment is safe, suitable for the purpose and properly maintained in good order. PAT testing is the best way you can fulfill this obligation.

What Needs Testing?

Any electrical appliance that is fitted with a plug (including every kettle, fax, copier, extension lead etc and 110V equipment) in a business or public place is required to be tested on a regular basis to ensure that it is in a safe working condition. In fact, if it is electrical and has a plug on it, whether it is in regular use or not, then it must be maintained safely.