The Problems Surrounding The Use Of Electrical Equipment At Work

By Author: Darren Tonge
Total Articles: 5
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When you are an employer, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require you to keep your employees safe by ensuring that all of your portable electrical equipment is safe to use. If a piece of equipment is unsafe and an employee suffers serious injury as a result, you, as the employer, could actually be prosecuted.

A major cause of accidents involving portable electrical equipment is failure to have the equipment maintained correctly. The chance of accidents occurring will depend on the type of equipment, the environment in which it is used, and the way that it is used. The control of risk of accident needs to be based on a risk assessment, which is about identifying potential problems and taking sensible and proportionate measures to deal with them.

The most vulnerable part of any electrical equipment is usually the cable which supplies the power to the equipment. This can deteriorate as a result of ageing, and it is also susceptible to damage as a result of accident, abuse, or misuse. Repeated or excessive flexing of the cable will eventually cause the conductor to fracture and the sheath to crack. Damage ...
... usually occurs first at the cord grip or gland where the cable enters the equipment or its plug. Some portable equipment such as floor polishers, chain saws, and so on, are capable of causing damage to the cable, so when used the cable should be secured so that it doesn’t come into contact with parts of the machine which are moving or hot.

None of this should have any bearing on the use of a PAT testing company to make regular checks on all your equipment. While you may spot visual faults yourself, you won’t be able to spot hidden faults, nor yet faults that have not yet developed but are potentially dangerous, whereas a PAT test will.

Hawkesworth Appliance Testing is a national PAT testing company that can perform PAT testing on all of your appliances so that you have the confidence to know that your business is fully compliant.