PAT test the myth!

[johnster80]

Hi guys,

Anybody read the PAT testing article in this months IET magazine?
if HSE push this thru it will mean big changes to the industry.

 

[JMiles]

I did have a a quick read of it - will be interesting to see where they go with it - not sure in a good way though

 

[Marnik]

It's been on the HSE for some time now
And that is exactly why this industry is struggling at the moment , every H&S manager in companies around the country , are looking into what they can get away with, and so arrrive at the HSE website ; where it says black on white "NO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE IT TESTED"

So there it is; Another nail in the coffin.


View attachment HSE Low risk PAT.pdf

 

[Geordie Spark]

I always SWAT test the myths in my house ..... they always fail !!!

 

[Adam W]

I don't know about nails in coffins, big changes and sounding death knells, but a lot of insurance companies require appliance testing by competent persons, which largely involves outsourcing it to an electrician who already has his own test equipment, PL insurance etc.
OK companies could get caretakers or IT staff trained up in 2377 but the majority of office jobs nowadays have been deskilled to the extent of someone on minimum wage punching numbers into a terminal and seeing what the computer says, so I can't imagine H&S managers trusting them unsupervised to keep tabs on something which could potentially land the company in court or in the papers.

I don't see that encouraging offices to maintain their electrical equipment in-house is much different from opening the floodgates to the '50p a sticker brigade', many of whom were working in completely unrelated fields until they had done the 2 day course.

 

[ohreally]

I don't see that encouraging offices to maintain their electrical equipment in-house is much different from opening the floodgates to the '50p a sticker brigade', many of whom were working in completely unrelated fields until they had done the 2 day course.

Substitute .50p for .30p. I posted a thread last week about a recruitment advert for testers, paying .30ppt, using your own vehicle and kit. Truly shocking.

 

[Adam W]

Substitute .50p for .30p. I posted a thread last week about a recruitment advert for testers, paying .30ppt, using your own vehicle and kit. Truly shocking.

I can test around 10 class 1 items an hour including checking the flex, wiring in the plug, cpc continuity, IR and run leakage, recording results and stickering.
That would be £3 an hour excluding breaks.
I think I'll pass on that one thanks.

 

[ohreally]

The documentation had still to be generated as well, 'kin reptiles. The sad thing is, someone will do this.

 

[Pattestinguk]

I wonder how they get away with that, are they self employed ?

 

[wildgoose]

I can test around 10 class 1 items an hour including checking the flex, wiring in the plug, cpc continuity, IR and run leakage, recording results and stickering.
That would be £3 an hour excluding breaks.
I think I'll pass on that one thanks.

Locating the items, visually inspecting, testing, a basic function check, labelling and finally recording the results. Ten items every hour would really challenge sometimes, especially for those difficult to find/access items or if the jobworths using the kit, won't allow them to be turned off because their work is far more important than yours is!!

 

[ohreally]

I wonder how they get away with that, are they self employed ?

I forgot, you have to provide and use your own van and stand the first 50 miles out your own pocket.

We are Currently looking for Flexible individuals to carry out a mobile PAT Testing role around the UK
Must have City & Guilds 2377 cert PAT Testing
Paid 30p a test - no basic salary
Must have and use own vehicle.
Must pay for the first 50 miles, after that 19p per mile.

 

[Adam W]

Locating the items, visually inspecting, testing, a basic function check, labelling and finally recording the results. Ten items every hour would really challenge sometimes, especially for those difficult to find/access items or if the jobworths using the kit, won't allow them to be turned off because their work is far more important than yours is!!

Of course 10 items an hour is a rough average - I've done some builders' stuff where they have presented me with a pile of kit to go through so no hunting around. Again in offices you generally get near enough the same kit at each desk - 4 way extension, pc, monitor, maybe a mobile phone charger. The idea is that once you move the chair out of the way you can crawl under the desk and get to all of it.
I think the longest it's taken me to test one piece of equipment is about an hour, after I'd finished moving 2 desks with associated screens and pictures and 2 filing cabinets, testing the one extension lead trapped in a floorbox, then moving it all back again.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Is it just me being a grumpy, too-long-in-the-tooth old so-and-so, or is this PAT testing lark more trouble than it's worth ??

 

[Sparky Ninja]

Is it just me being a grumpy, too-long-in-the-tooth old so-and-so, or is this PAT testing lark more trouble than it's worth ??

It's heavily polluted with incompetent money grabbing idiots just like the fixed installation testing has become, and the agencies/employers are making it worse.

 

[grantr37]

would never get paid for any fuel......would end up in insurance trouble with the vehicle.....would end up in trouble with the tax man who would think you were taking the pee declaring such rates......and if somebody were to be a sticker fanatic and just green label everything and something went wrong, they would throw you to the baying crowds who would promptly cry aloud "Angim orf with is edd"...... wouldn't touch it with a very long pole....

did it at all mention who buys the stickers? I bet if you asked a printer, they would tell you that the stickers are probably 25p each, and then they would roll around laughing at you for taking a 30p a test job... :13:

 

[ackbarthestar]

I've always worked around the requirements of insurance companies. Some require testing and inspection every year others don't apply what they see as the rules so tightly.

An example is one company that repairs horticultural / agricultural machinery. testing, the office equipment, used every day by the ladies, don't get abused so doesn't need the same level of attention as the workshop hand tools that do get abused, such as being regularly dropped, thrown around, run over by wayward machinery driven by full on Numpty warriors, equipment often covered in oil and grease, manufacturing labels scraped off and need to be checked regularly. There is also the deliberate abuse of such items using 6mm studs for fuses etc... That's when the training arm of our outfit comes into play, ie we recommend that any equipment that needs an alternative to BS1362 also needs to be put on a BS EN 60309 plug....