DRA PAT Testing Ltd – The North East’s No 1 PAT tester

All electrical equipment used in workplaces, or for work use, need to maintain acceptable safety standards at all times; how you do that is up to you, but in the event of an incident, investigation or claim you need to be provide evidence that confirms you have done as much as you can to ensure your equipment is safe. 

The best and most recognised method for checking an electrical appliance is safe is a Portable Appliance Test (aka PAT test); and following the test you will be issued with a PAT testing Certificate Report, which is an accepted document that proves you have taken action to check your equipment is safe. 

The Portable Appliance Test checks electrical equipment to make sure it is safe, by utilising the knowledge of the engineer, and the tests carried out by a PAT tester machine. If faults are found the engineer will be able to repair some, and if it is beyond repair, the engineer will fail the appliance, taking it out of service and eliminating the risk, thus preventing an accident occurring. 

If you keep doing PAT on a regular basis, proportionate to a risk assessment for the appliance and working environment, you should be able to keep the appliance safe, thus removing the risk of an accident occurring, thus Portable Appliance Testing is the best preventative maintenance you can do to protect your business and your equipment users. 

Checking how safe workplace electrical equipment is has been getting done since the introduction of the Electricity at Work Regulations in 1989, and following guidance from the IET Code of Practice’s introduction in 1994.

In order to check an electrical appliance is safe it needs to be inspected visually by a competent person and tested using a ‘PAT tester‘. These are encompassed in the practice of electrical PAT testing, which confirms whether or not an appliance is safe following inspection and testing. If you require your electrical equipment PAT testing get in touch with us today. 

We cover all of the North East of England; based in North Tyneside (Wallsend) we operate mainly in Tyneside/Newcastle Upon Tyne but will come to you wherever you are in Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Co. Durham and North Yorkshire. We also take on work throughout the UK, and can multi-site projects for many clients. 

We work in all kinds of different workplaces, but specialise in PAT testing office based businesses, schools, shops, doctors surgeries and for Landlords. 

We’re a team of 4 engineers – the biggest independent PAT company in the region, all highly skilled, experienced, CHAS accredited and DBS checked. We also carry out other electrical inspections and testing including EICR. 

We work with the likes of Nexus (Tyne and Wear’s Transport operator), Durham Police and the National Trust. 

A stringent PAT test will involve a thorough inspection of the appliance by a trained engineer to include the plug, fuse, flexible cable and appliance itself.

If there is damage to the appliance, or the engineer observes anything that gives them concern they need to take action to remove the danger, which could be to repair the appliance or remove it from use.

You can expect the person doing your PATs to also check your appliances are being used correctly, such as making sure extension leads aren’t being overloaded, and wires aren’t messy and causing undue stresses.

You will be told if plugs have been replaced, or if an appliance has failed the inspection; and what it failed on, and what you need to do with the appliance, which could include getting it repaired by another profession.

Electrical tests will be carried out on some appliances (they don’t all need them), but these could include checks for earth (safety) continuity, insulation resistance and polarity in cables.

Every appliance that is checked and passes, will be labelled with a Passed PAT testing label that shows the date of the test and given ID number.

Regular PAT testing (aka Portable Appliance Testing, or electrical equipment testing), a safety procedure carried out on electrical equipment used in workplaces, will help you to comply with the workplace regulations.

Regular PAT testing helps you to keep appliances safe, giving users peace of mind that the equipment they’re using isn’t going to hurt them.

Regular PAT testing also helps to protect your business, as it reduces the chances of an appliance being misused which may lead to a fire.

In the UK, under Health and Safety at Work Regulations, the Electricity at Work Regulations (1989) makes your obligations quite clear – “All systems shall at all times be of such construction as to prevent, so far as reasonably practical, such danger“. This means that you need to make sure that your electrical systems (wiring installation and appliances that plug into it) are always safe to use. So, businesses and other owners/managers of work places like schools, hotels, doctors surgeries, hair salons, etc. need to observe regular testing protocols to minimise the risk.

It is considered best practice to Pat test portable electrical equipment (in most workplaces) once a year; and in some higher risk locations, more often than this.

Although there is no legal requirement to do annual PAT testing, it is considered best practice, and tends to be the most acceptable process, especially if you don’t have risk assessments in place.

Also, keep in mind, if you allow other businesses to operate on your premises (like mobile disco’s in hotels), their equipment needs to be PAT tested too – and to protect your own policies you will need to check this.