Failures

Electricity can kill. Each year about 1000 accidents at work involving electric shock or burns are reported to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Around 30 of these are fatal. Most of these fatalities arise from contact with overhead or underground power cables.

Even non-fatal shocks can cause severe and permanent injury. Shocks from faulty equipment may lead to falls from ladders, scaffolds or other work platforms. Those using electricity may not be the only ones at risk: poor electrical installations and faulty electrical appliances can lead to fires which may also cause death or injury to others. Most of these accidents can be avoided by careful planning and straightforward precautions.

Electrical appliance testing ensures that electrical faults are identified, which means that potential hazards can be removed to ensure electrical safety in the home or workplace.  While it's at the discretion of the homeowner whether to carry out electrical appliance testing, it is a requirement of the Health and Safety at Work Regulations that electrical appliances in the workplace comply with the requirements of The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989.

Electrical appliance testing is commonly referred to as "portable appliance testing" or PAT, and differs from electrical installation testing, which concerns the fixed electrics in your home/place of work rather than individual, movable items of electrical equipment. A portable appliance can be defined as one which can be relocated between periods of use, and is connected via a cable to an electrical power supply.

The photo below shows a fire in a tower block that sadly killed 6 people; this fire was started from a spark from an electrical fault in an old television set.  To the left of the screen are menus of various appliances that we at Safe Office Solutions failed and removed from service.