Every business that owns or hires electrical equipment, needs to carry out who does pat testing at some point. This is to ensure that the electrical equipment is safe to use and does not pose a risk to the staff or customers. In some cases, it is a legal requirement.
There are no specific qualifications to become a pat tester, but it is expected that anyone carrying out the tests will have taken a training course provided by a qualified instructor. The course will teach individuals how to safely and correctly carry out the testing procedure. This includes a knowledge test to make sure that the individual understands everything they need to know.
Who Does PAT Testing? Unveiling the Professionals Behind the Service
The law requires an employer to keep their electrical equipment in a safe condition, but it does not stipulate how this maintenance must be done. Therefore, it is up to the company’s safety representative or someone with a high level of responsibility for this area of health and safety to conduct a risk assessment to decide on a suitable schedule of PAT testing for their organization.
The risk assessment will take into account things such as the type of equipment, its location and how often it is used. The risk assessment will then determine how frequently the equipment and cables should be tested. There is no set time limit as to how often electrical equipment should be tested, but it is usually recommended that it is tested at least once a year. In low-risk environments, it might only need to be tested every two years, while in higher-risk environments such as construction sites, it may need to be tested more frequently.