2012-10-20

Tested!

Got the kit back from where my daughter is living, and clearly, at some point, they have had someone come in and do electrical safety on everything. It was all covered in stickers, which all look like this:-


Odd? Don't they have state the re-test date or something normally? After all, the whole point of the sticker is, as I understand it, to show testing has been done, and when a re-test is needed.

Ah, but hang on - here it is under a flap:-


So what's that flap for? Oh! it is removable:-


And sticky:-


And leaves nice sealed glossy finish that you can't alter:-


And the whole thing seems to be tamper evident:-


They are probably expensive stickers. Why go to all that effort to copy serial number on to them, and then not peal off the backing and stick it down?

I can only hope that the whoever it was knew more about working the test equipment than the stickers!

13 comments:

  1. From some of the PAT tested stuff I have seen "working the test equipment" is the extent of it. How about an 4 gang extension lead where the where the cable was so badly damaged one of the conductors was exposed - fortunately the it was the earth conductor - "Passed" 2 days previously and not used since. Evidently the extent of the testing was to plug it into an automated tester and press the go button not to visually inspect it.

    Mind you on the subject of visual inspection - I have seen racks of switches covered with "visual inspection only" labels on the face of the kit - the only area that could be "inspected" in a 600mm cabinet without removing it from the rack; very easy money at a fixed fee per item - how about £50/minute to do a full 42U rack! Mind you have seen rather large (un)test labels stuck over air intakes on equipment with was frankly danagerous as the overtempeature alarms alerted us that one "delight".

    Laptop - 4 items charged for 1) battery powered laptop (interesting) 2) docking station; 3) power brick; 4) cable to power brick. Zyxel 660R router 2 items - 1) wall wart; 2) router.
    Anyone think these guys are pulling a fast one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "'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."

    So unless you have agreed with them what you need testing they will snatch everything

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen companies do this PAT nonsense - is there no way out of this money making scheme?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Is that the airport express from Holly House? Can I have it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. The HSE is actually trying to rein-in the PAT industry - the law has never required the amount of testing that goes on, and they're finally trying to get that message understood: http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg236.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is the Airport Express even mains powered? I'd have assumed it had a separate brick anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Is that the latest generation Express?

    If so how did it perform?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Recently I have needed to use my laptop charger somewhere occasionally, and was told "it needs an electrical safety testing sticker like this". So I bought a pack off ebay and hey presto they were happy that it had a sticker. It was tested by M.Mouse in 2014 and expires 2025.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I was supposed to have training on PAT testing in one of my previous jobs... it never happened, but I was nominally in charge of a lab where someone had "passed" a piece of kit whose only cover over live parts was a loose cardboard box. My boss found it and proceeded to give the entire testing team a telling off by email. I had never even noticed this item in the lab before.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ingmar: Never mind "Is there no way out of this money-making scheme?" I want to know the way into it! :-)

    Gizzajob...

    Cheers,
    Howard

    ReplyDelete

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