Legal Requirements
Do I Need to have Portable Appliance Testing carried out?
'The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989' states:
- "All systems shall at all times be of such construction as to prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, such danger."
- "As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as reasonably practicable, such danger."
- "'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"
- "'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.”
The Health & Safety at Work Act 1974:
This act puts the duty of care upon both the employer and the employee to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises.
'The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998' states:
"Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair."
Do I need a full report?
The answer is yes and we will provide a full report of tests, as a report is essential for yourselves.
It provides the evidence for your defence in the event of a prosecution, it shows that reasonable steps have been taken at your intention to comply with the spirit of the law.
Practically, such records enable the close monitoring of the equipment highlighting potential faults or degradation of appliance results.
Do I Need Bar codes on my labels?
There is a requirement to show if an appliance has passed or failed, and the date at which the inspection took place but there is no legal requirement for bar coded labels to be present.
However they are suitable for the identification code of an appliance - as is an asset ID number.
We use bar coded labels for identification across the board.