Health & Safety in Employment Act 1992 (section 6):

"Every employer shall take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employees while at work"

This is the section of the act most companies and organisations are prosecuted under, for their failure to comply. IT APPLIES TO EVERY TYPE OF ENTERPRISE e.g: Construction, Factories, Workshops, Offices, Retail, Wholesale, Health Care, Schools, Restaurants, Hotels.

To ensure that you meet your due obligations under the Health & Safety in Employment Act, it is a legal requirement that you provide evidence of regular inspections and tests of portable electrical appliances in the workplace. Testing and warranting equipment to this standard is by far the easiest and most cost effective way to make sure that appliances are completely safe for an employee or third party to use. It is imperative to bear in mind that an employee must still be suitably trained and possess the relevant and correct protective safety gear, to be utilising such equipment safely.

The ‘Legislation Hierarchy’ stems from:

The Health and Safety at Work Act - 1974 (emphasising the duty of care upon both employer and employee to ensure the overall safety of all persons using the work premises, including third parties. This includes those who are self-employed).

Then:

The Electricity at Work Regulations - 1989 (which states that: "As may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger". (Regulation 4(2))

'''System' means an electrical system in which all the electrical equipment is, or may be, electrically connected to a common source of electrical energy and includes such source and such equipment". (Regulation 2(1))

"Electrical equipment includes anything used, intended to be used or installed for use, to generate, provide, transmit, transform, rectify, convert, conduct, distribute, control, store, measure or use electrical energy". (Regulation 2(1)

Next:

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations - 1999 (which quotes: "Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of (a) the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work, and (b) the risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him of his undertaking". (Regulation 3(1))

Also:

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations - 1998 (which states that: "Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or provided". (Regulation 4(1)

And:

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations - 1998 (PUWER) (which cover the vast majority of risks that can result from or be inflicted by the general utilisation of work equipment and portable electrical appliances. PUWER does not apply to the fixed installations in a building. The electrical safety of these particular installations is dealt with only by the Electricity at Work Regulations.

The ‘nuts and bolts’ of compliance with all of the above is brought together in “The Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment”, published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). If your current contractor does not own a copy of this extremely important document - continue to use their services at your own risk!

StormPAT would be happy to set-up, and undertake an inspection/testing to legislative standard in order for you to achieve this....If you require further information on PAT testing, please contact us for an informal chat.

Regulations for Landlords and Letting Agents:

The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, compulsory since January 1997, states that all electrical appliances supplied within rented accomodation must be safe for the tenant/s and guests where applicable. This regulation applies to both new and used appliances and covers all electrical items supplied for the intended use of the tenant and visitors to the property. To have such electrical appliances tested by a competent PAT tester using the appropriate calibrated PAT testing equipment is the only way to ensure such safety and acknowledgement of the current legislation in force.

Failure to comply with this legislation may constitute a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. This in turn carries a maximum penalty on summary conviction of a £5,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment.