Category: Electrical Test And Tagging

Ensuring workplace safety is every employer’s responsibility. In fact, the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 requires employers to protect workers by eliminating or minimising risks at work.

Electrical testing and tagging is one way to ensure compliance with the Act. It is so cheap and fast that there is no excuse not to do it at the required frequency. You can even do it yourself if you are competent in doing the procedure.

To be considered as a ‘Competent Person’, you must be able to prove competency through training, knowledge or a combination of both. The best way to do this would be to attend a test and tag competency course where you’ll learn the knowledge and skills in using a Portable Appliance Tester (PAT testing) properly. Using a PAT is an easy way to ensure your tools, leads and appliances are compliant and tested for electrical integrity.

Being competent in testing and tagging comes with a number of benefits:

• You save time in looking for a trustworthy and reliable contractor as you could simply train internal staff to carry out testing and tagging to the required standards.
• You save costs through self-compliance. Training is cheaper than hiring a sparkie every few months or so.
• In-house testing and tagging allows you to schedule the inspection at a time most suitable to production requirements, so it doesn’t impede productivity.

It’s a good idea to bring your own test and tag machine when undertaking a test and tag course. This way, you will understand its various features and have firsthand experience of its application.

What type of equipment must be tested and tagged?

New equipment only needs to be visually inspected and tagged. On the other hand, portable appliances that fall into either of the two categories need to be tested and tagged:

Class I – earthed appliances such as irons, kettles and toasters

Class II – double insulated appliances such as electric drills and hair dryers. These are usually identified with the label ‘Double Insulated’ or a symbol (a square within a square)

In short, all devices that have a removable plug, a flexible cable and a high voltage (not exceeding 50V) should be inspected. This includes cord sets, extension leads and portable RCD’s.

How often the appliance should be tested depends on the environment in which it is used. For example, in construction and mining industries where the nature of work is harsh, test and tag procedures must be done every 3 months and meet the appropriate standards.

Remember, electrical safety is your responsibility. It pays to have knowledge of electrical systems that you’re using in the workplace and the regulations that cover their use. Not taking the appropriate actions to provide a safe working environment may result in legal and financial consequences. So it’s always a good idea to be on the side of the law, rather than against it.

If you are interested in doing an electrical testing and tagging course, get in touch with our experts at MetroTest to book your spot.

The following is taken from an Article by Rainey Collins Lawyers, which discusses employers’ responsibilities with regards to test and tag. It reads:

Employers must take all practical steps to ensure the safety of their employees while they are at work. Employers should therefore ‘test and tag’ all electrical appliances or fittings in use, or available for use, within their workplace.

The Electrical (Safety) Regulations 2010 outline that a fitting or appliance will be deemed to be electrically safe if it has a current tag issued in accordance with the testing standard. This provides employers with a set of safety inspection and testing protocols which they can easily enact within their workplace to ensure that they fulfill their electrical safety requirements.

Under the testing standard, employers must regularly inspect and test equipment for damage, wear or other conditions which might render equipment unsafe. This includes:

• Checking for obvious damage and for any discolouration;
• Checking that flexible cords are effectively attached to equipment, plugs, connectors and cord extension sockets;
• Checking that flexible cords are not damaged. For example, inner cores should not be exposed or twisted;
• Checking that warnings on electric portable outlet devices (EPODs) are intact and legible;
• Checking that any operating controls are secure, aligned and appropriately identified;
• Checking that covers and guards are secured and working;
• Checking that ventilation inlets and exhausts are unobstructed;
• Checking that the rating of the plug is consistent with the rating of the equipment;
• Checking that the live connections in rewireable plugs, rewirable connectors and rewireable cord extension sockets are correctly ordered;
• Checking mains and welding leads for damage or excessive charring;
• Testing portable isolating transformers, power supplies and residual current devices which are permanently wired to terminals in equipment;
• Undertaking protective earth continuity tests on equipment like EPODs, cord sets, and cord extension sets; and
• Undertaking a leakage current test or an insulation resistance test on insulation.

Inspection and testing should be carried out by a competent person. The individual is not required to be a registered or licensed electrical practitioner but should have some practical skills or knowledge in the area.

Inspection and testing should occur every 3 months to every 5 years, depending on a business’s circumstances. For example, factories, workshops and places of manufacture, assembly, maintenance or fabrication, should check and test their equipment every 6 months. Equipment used for commercial cleaning should also be tested every 6 months. In other places of work, equipment that is subject to normal use or is open to abuse or is in a hostile environment should be tested every 12 months. Alternatively, equipment that is not subject to normal use or is not open to abuse or is not in a hostile environment should be tested every 5 years. Residential areas of work such as hotels, halls and hostels should test their equipment every 2 years, while hire equipment should be tested and tagged every 3 months. If the workplace is a construction or demolition site and has a temporary power connection then all appliances must be tested every 3 months.

Any non-compliant equipment should be appropriately labelled and withdrawn from use. Employers may choose whether to remedy the equipment or dispose of it. Compliant equipment should be fitted with a durable, non-reusable, non-metallic tag that records the name of the person or company who performed the test, the test or inspection date, a retest date, and a reference to the relevant testing standard.

Employers will be held strictly liable under the Electrical (Safety) Regulations, if an employee is injured by an appliance or fitting that does not meet the safety standards.

Can DIY Test and Tag really work?  The simple answer is yes, however there are 3 essentials to success:

1. Training

This is essential and needs to incorporate easily accessed on-going support.  It is very interesting how so many new people have entered the training market claiming to provide training with full back up and support.  They obviously know this is what people want; so they state that they provide it – simple marketing really isn’t it!  This statement, however, needs further examination to find out who will be providing the training and importantly the on-going support available.

It is easy to say, ‘training run by an expert, fully qualified’. We reckon teaching what you do works the best and therefore all our trainers and support people can do the job – many with years of hands on test and tagging experience.  Nothing beats ‘real’ experience.  We’re not marketing gurus, but when it comes to test and tag we’re the experts – second to none!  This is because Metrotest is the only established nationwide testing company that is involved in all aspects of the industry.  Next year is our 20^th year!

When you need ‘technical how to’ support we’re here too.  As I said before we do it and our ‘people’ not ‘person’ are available to help you.  You won’t get ‘sorry they’re on holiday ring next week’.  Good training and support are essential ingredients.

2. Backup Plan

People, including all our staff, get sick, go on holidays, leave to work elsewhere or just get too busy in their core job requirements and this needs to be considered when planning in-house test and tag.  What happens if you get behind?  You need to have a contingency plan.  Metrotest can offer to our clients, who have our systems, a solution because we operate a nationwide test and tag company so we can seamlessly, in the right situation, ‘pick up the slack’, catch you up and then leave you to carry on. The only additional cost is our charge for testing. This program is called ‘Tandem Tag’ and has worked well for many of our clients.

3. The Testing System

The last item you need, apart from the time, is the PAT Tester, or a ‘Pat testing System’.  What you need here is going to depend on how much testing you need to do (and how frequently you need to be testing), along with the requirements of what you need to test.  If you only want to test computers, then you would not be testing any 3-phase equipment and therefore do not need a PAT which will do this.  One size does not fit all and believe it or not small and portable, when put in a pelican style case, can become big and heavy very quickly!  If you are only testing a couple of hundred items per year the ‘tag printing’ option is not a biggy, but if you are into the thousand or so, then it is likely essential and probably an overall cheaper option.  If the capex does not allow for a printing option, then split the system and purchase the printing side later.  Obviously to do this you will need a compatible tester.

The most advanced system (and mid-priced) on the market today is our MetroIPAT and this is the system we use ourselves everywhere.

At first sight it may seem big – but it is actually a much smaller, lighter system than for example the Metrel Delta PAT which when in its case with printer and everything is bigger and heavier!  The MetroIPAT can test single and 3 phase items and has many advantages including double tagging and multiple coloured different sized tags, you can even make up your own test codes for non-electrical equipment eg ladders and have a tough tag printed out to put on them.  These are abilities that you will not find on any other PAT testing system.

The real advantage to the MetroIPAT system is the time saved, so you are less likely to need our ‘tandem tag’ service.  It can also test the protective earth at up to 25,000 milliamps where as most of its competitors can only test at 200 milliamps.  The ‘pushy salesman’ may tell you that this is not necessary – if you are not convinced that this is what you should be buying then read our Blog ‘Just Compliant or Really Safe’ – we all want a life jacket that saves our lives!

A new system coming to the market that is small and unique in many ways is the METRO EasiPAT 10, and it has ‘real safety testing’ and can use a small printer so the whole system is very compact and entry level pricing.

Summing up, you need real training and support, a back up plan for when you get behind and lastly the right test equipment (PAT system).  I think and always tell people to do one of our training courses first; then choose the test equipment after comparing options.  So often people do the opposite and end up with a dud tester or system which just makes life hard and often does not even test properly!

The last thing I’ll say about DIY or in-house test and tag is that it encourages/gets the staff buying in to electrical safety.  They take ownership of electrical safety and become much more aware of the dangers surrounding electricity and the use of electrical appliances; which is obviously a good thing.

 

‘Compliance Testing’ or ‘Really Safe Testing’ – it’s your choice!

This may sound funny in a test and tag article, but I want you to think for a moment. You and your family are going boating, dad weighs 91kg, mum 58kg and 2 children 35kg and 28kg. Before jumping on to the boat you decide to test the life jackets, however you can only find a 30kg weight handy and decide to attach this to each life jacket and place them in the water to see if they float. If it floats will everyone wearing them be safe? Unless you are the person weighing 28kgs I wouldn’t be confident that this would be the case! Obviously, the testing weight should match up with the rated weight for the life jacket!

Let’s go back to electrical testing where we started. The two main tests that will normally be done on all Class I earthed equipment will be an earth test and an insulation resistance test. These tests are there to prove that the earth and insulation resistance is suitable and safe and this is done by measuring the resistance.

Insulation resistance tests are normally performed on appliances at 500 Volt (normal operating voltage is 240V, so testing is done at twice this). This is done as you want to stress test the equipment; effectively making sure electricity isn’t going to easily ‘leak’ out of it.  By testing it at twice the normal operating voltage we know, in its normal operation, if it passes the test the user should be safe. Obviously if we tested it at say 100V this would be like testing all life jackets at 30kg – it would prove nothing!

Now we’ll look at the protective earth test. First let’s explain why Class I (earthed appliances) have this protective earth. Electricity normally wants to find the easiest way of getting to the ground, i.e. the earth, the dirt etc we all stand on. The insulation of equipment prevents electricity leaking out of the outside case of the appliance.  If this insulation fails for any reason and there isn’t a good or real earth on the equipment, someone touching this may receive an electric shock which could be fatal. Therefore Class I equipment is always designed to have a protective earth which in the above situation will transport the electricity back to the ground preventing you from getting an electric shock.

When we tested the appliance’s insulation we tested it at twice its normal operating voltage. This time we are more concerned with how much actual electrical current can flow in the protective earth conductor. In a fault situation this can easily exceed 10 Amps (10,000 milliamps) so logically we want to simulate a test that proves, as above the life jacket floats, in this case that the protective earth will save the operator. The best and logical testing practice is surely, where appropriate, to test Class I items at a level that proves the earth will work when required, thus ensuring people remain safe!

What I’m now about to say may horrify many and probably should – most tests are done on the protective earth with a test current of 200milliamps (0.2 Amp) when a normal appliance can operate at 10 Amps (10,000 milliamps) – so why test it at 200 milliamps? Is it a worthwhile test? – you decide. So why do this test at 200 milliamps? Simply put, most testing equipment, even the most expensive ones, don’t often have this ability, but obviously it should. We, as a company design, supply and use test equipment that can and does real testing.

You may be thinking that testing for safety may cost more; the answer is no, it definitely shouldn’t.