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Are You Wasting Money On Portable Electrical Appliance Testing?

Really useful advice from The Fire Safety Company.

Have you ever wondered what the legal definition of a portable electrical appliance is?

Portable electrical equipment can cause harm through an electric shock or burn, or fire due to damage, wear or misuse.

On average, around 1000 electrical accidents at work are reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) each year.
All portable electrical equipment should be maintained to prevent danger. It is strongly recommended that this includes an appropriate system of visual inspection and, where necessary, testing.

To ensure such portable appliance inspection and testing has adequate coverage, it is necessary to identify the equipment that comes under the regime.

There is no legal definition of what constitutes a portable electrical appliance, but HSE guidance document HSG107 Maintaining Portable Electrical Equipment, suggests that it is “equipment that is intended to be connected to a generator or a fixed installation by means of a flexible cable and either a plug and socket or a spur box, or similar means.

This includes equipment that is either hand-held or hand-operated while connected to the supply, intended to be moved while connected to the supply, or likely to be moved while connected to the supply.”

The same document also includes appliances which have been fixed for security purpose, such as those in public areas of hotels and changing rooms (e.g. kettles, hairdryers, hand dryers, lamps, etc.).

HSG107 also includes in the classification extension leads, plugs and sockets, and cord sets that supply portable equipment, as they “operate in the same environment and are subject to the same use as the equipment they serve”.

Organisations are likely to have many such items of portable equipment and must ensure that all items are identified and subject to appropriate inspection and testing, it is recommended that a suitable log is developed of the portable equipment and associated maintenance.

Labelling of equipment is another management tool that indicates whether the piece of portable equipment has been subject to inspection and testing. The label should indicate that the equipment has been tested satisfactorily, when it was tested and when the next test due date is.
If you need your electrical appliances testing or advice on any aspect of electrical safety, call Sanjay at The Fire Safety & Electronic Security Company Ltd on 01748 811992

Until next time, stay safe and compliant!

Sanjay and the Fire Safety Team

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T: 01748 811992

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