Portable Appliance Testing. The Details
What is a Portable Appliance?
The commonly accepted definition of a portable appliance is: any item that connects to the electricity supply, directly or indirectly, by means of a removable plug.
Legislation is slowly coming into effect requiring employers and others to protect their employees and the general public from injury through recorded maintenance of Portable Appliances.
The Regulations of specific relevance to electrical maintenance are the Health and Safety at Work Act, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, The Electricity at Work Regulations and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations.
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Sections 2, 3 and 4) puts a duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises.
The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992 state:
Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of
- the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work, and
- the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him or his undertaking.
(Regulation 3(1))
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1992 state:
Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided.
(Regulation 5(1))
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (EAW) state:
As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall he maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger.
(Regulation 4(2))
'System' means an electrical system in which all the electrical equipment is, or may be, electrically connected to a common source of electrical energy and includes such source and such equipment.
(Regulation 2(1))
Electrical equipment includes anything used, intended to be used or installed for use, to generate, provide, transmit, transform, rectify, convert, conduct, distribute, control, store, measure or use electrical energy.
(Regulation 2(1))