We would around every three months do the in service inspecting and testing of electrical equipment on our batching plant, no question it was potable it was moved as 22 articulated wagon loads, and the trailer wheels remained attached, it would take three electricians two days (the week end) to inspect and test, which included all safety switches, each gate opened to show machine stopped. We called it a service, and it did include checking the torque on some of the cables.
OK may be an extreme case, but be it a showman's ride, or batching plant we do have items which take a long time to test.
The inspection and testing of in service electrical equipment in may places I worked so split into three groups.
1) Equipment under maintenance contract things like vending machines.
2) Equipment not covered by 1) with a 13 or 16 amp plug.
3) The rest.
Not easy to inspect and test a hand drier, often it needs two people, so in the main it would be tested when doing the EICR or PIR as it was called then. And it was tested using an insulation tester, not the standard plug in PAT testing machine.
All items had to be on the equipment register, and the register would say if testing was to be done by the semi-skilled PAT testing team, this was before the Emma Shaw case, was not working there after the Emma Shaw case so not sure what happened about using semi-skilled labour after that case.
It was common to use electricians mates to do plug in testing, the Emma Shaw case was a game changer, and after that case electricians did all PAT testing, the idea of sending electricians mates on a PAT testing course went out of the window, at least where I worked.
We did start using contractors for both PIR and PAT testing, it was work which could be easy off loaded when busy, however it was short lived, due to errors found, we found for example a class I mag mount with a class II drill had been all tested as class II, and there was no earth connected to mag mount, the excuse was there was the double square showing class II but this was on the drill not the mag mount.
So in the main it returned to in house testing.
My boss said go for it, we have a remote depot go and do all PAT testing you have all day, but seen how long it takes, I was surprised, with the then top of range Robin, it did a self test every time plugged in, and it recorded it all on a floppy disc, shows how long ago, but that resulted if testing a PC I had to do whole test twice, once for lead set and once for PC, with cheaper manual testers would have just entered same results twice. So 6 hours for 40 items, had expected to do it a lot faster.
However this raised an issue, the machine took 3.4 minutes to go through the testing sequence with a class I item, so even not including time taken to get the item and plug it in, so maximum anyone can do in 8 hours is 137 so we can in an 8 hour day expect 60 to 120 items tested using the Robin tester set to times in the testing instruction book.
So as the building manager if you get 200 tests done in a day, can you accept it? Well if all class III I suppose so, and even all class II it would be possible. But unless cheating unlikely, and much of out time was taken up with questions like there was a Bosch drill here last year, where is it? Oh it was binned as burnt out, can I have copy of the disposal form please.
When one firm started doing the PAT testing they changed all the plant numbers giving new numbers to all tested with no cross reference provided, how can one maintain an equipment register when that happens.
I did get caught out with PAT testing, failed to keep workshop locked, so an item on the repair register could be taken out of the workshop, seems signs were not enough. An extension lead had been taken when we were not looking. I would have said guys fault for not following procedure and instructions but HSE did not take same view, lucky it was no me, to get fined because some one has stolen your extension lead out of your locker did not seem fair to me, but that is what happened, seems red stickers saying do not use is not enough.
