Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

The Electricity at Work Regulations of 1989 places a “duty of care” on employers and landlords to maintain electrical systems to prevent danger where it otherwise may potentially exist.

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) legislation was put into effect to ensure all companies across the UK conform to health and safety regulations. These include: Health and Safety at Work Act of 1974, Electricity at Work Regulations of 1989, Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations of 1998 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations of 1999.

Make Sure Your Workplace Is Safe

As an employer, you are legally required to make sure your commercial property and all the electrical appliances it contains are perfectly safe for employees and visitors alike. That means you may need to call qualified electricians for PAT testing from time to time – and there’s no better company to trust for that task than us.

At Interlink Lighting and Electrical, we’ve been testing portable electrical appliances, which can include anything from kettles to ovens, for business owners since 1994, meaning you can trust that we have the required experience and skills to ensure every component of your electrical appliances are safe and in full working order. Call us today to book your PAT test in Glasgow at a time that works with your busy schedule.

The benefits of electrical testing

PAT testing is about more than just complying with the law – it concerns making sure all your appliances are working efficiently. We can identify small problems before they exacerbate, which can not only help you maintain a safe working environment but also save money in the long run. Should we find any serious problems with your portable appliances, you’ll be able to repair them for a cost-effective price or replace them with solutions that require much less electricity. In short, electrical testing in Glasgow can help you minimise your carbon footprint, potentially save a significant sum of cash and keep your employees out of harm’s way. Plus, even though we thoroughly inspect all your appliances because we never cut corners when it comes to safety, we remain one of the most cost-effective companies for PAT testing in the Glasgow area.

We answer your questions about your PAT report

Interlink Lighting and Electrical works hard to help clients understand the importance PAT certificates.

Below we have answered some of your frequently asked questions regarding the PAT report. At Interlink Lighting and Electrical, we appreciate that after reading the FAQs, you may still have a question about your PAT certificate and we encourage you to give us a call and we will be happy to advise.

The Electricity at Work Regulations (1989) placed a Legal responsibility on employers, suppliers and hirers etc. to take reasonable steps to ensure that no danger results from the use of electrical equipment. This means all Portable Appliances at your place of work must be regularly tested to ensure they are safe. Everybody has a duty to ensure the safety of others whilst at work; however, the Duty Holder will have ultimate responsibility for electrical safety. If nobody at your place of work is clear on who that is, then the responsibility falls on the most senior person. It is important to know who has the responsibility for safety and welfare of staff to establish that compliance is achieved.

For the legislation, a portable electrical appliance is taken to be an item of equipment which is not part of a fixed installation but is, or is intended to be, connected to fixed installation, or a generator, by means of a flexible cable and a plug and socket – any item with a plug is Portable Appliance. This would include electric drills, kettles, PCs, printers, monitors, extension lead and even some large items such as vending machines and photocopiers.
There is no specific schedule set out. There are however guidelines to help. The frequency of testing depends on the type of equipment and the environment in which it is used. For example, a high-risk item such as an electric drill should be tested more frequently than a low risk item such as a PC. Furthermore, a drill that is used every day in a high-density manufacturing plant should be tested more frequently than a drill used only occasionally in an office environment. Essentially it is the responsibility of the employer to assess the risk involved and implement its own programme of testing. Most companies still opt for a blanket test of all equipment on an annual basis to ensure conformity.

No, the legislation states that the person testing the item must be a competent person. All Interlink Lighting & Electrical engineers are qualified PAT testers to ensure your appliances & employees stay safe always.

This type of testing will generally be undertaken during normal business hours. If you oversee a department budget, you should be aware that it is likely that evening work and weekend work would attract uplift in costs.

Yes – it is impossible otherwise. To electrically test the equipment, it needs to be disconnected from the mains and plugged into a testing device. This is how the electrical readings are obtained and a PASS or FAIL status is defined.

In some environments where it is not possible to turn equipment on and off, such as computer suites and comms rooms, it may only be appropriate for a visual inspection to be carried out. If this is the case, then every effort must be made to carry out a combined inspection and test at the next available times. This would normally be during a scheduled shut-down for maintenance purpose.

Most failures are found during the initial visual check (i.e. a cracked plug or an incorrectly rated fuse). These minor repairs will be carried out during the works however other failures may not be fixed quickly and Interlink Lighting will take them out of service to eliminate danger to your staff.

There are many reasons not to do Portable Appliance Testing such as cost, inconvenience, or lack of knowledge. However, none of these reasons will be accepted as a defence if an accident or fire occurs. Aside from the threat of prosecution in the event of injury or death, surely the safety of your colleagues, employees, patients or belongings are reason enough to test and inspect electrical systems at work.