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PAT450 portable appliance tester

You’ll need a tester that helps you make the best use of your time. Rapid start-up is important, as is instant restart after temporary disconnection when moving between locations. Barcode support can also be helpful, as it provides a quick way of identifying assets. Depending on how you work and the type of assets you’ll be testing, an option for automatic testing with a user-defined test structure can be another huge time saver. For testing large numbers of assets, you’ll also need a tester that can store many results in its internal memory, like the PAT450, which can hold up to 10 000 results. There should also be facilities for organising the stored results so that you can find them easily. A QWERTY keyboard is essential for fast data entry. Finally, make sure the tester has all the features you need.

Barcodes can indeed save you much time on repeat testing of assets. You will, of course, need a PAT tester like the PAT450, which offers barcode support. You’ll also need to buy a barcode scanner and a label printer, but these aren’t expensive items, and if you do a lot of PAT testing, they’ll quickly pay for themselves. When you have the kit together, you can print pass/fail labels, including a barcode that identifies the asset and the type of tests carried out. Then, when you next need to test that asset, you simply scan the barcode, and this information is instantly loaded into the PAT tester. That’s a lot faster and easier than entering the information manually. And, as it happens, this setup could also solve your second problem. The label printers used with the latest Megger PAT testers print on self-laminating tape, meaning it’s virtually impossible to scribble on them or otherwise deface the labels they produce.

The frequency of the visual examinations and electrical tests is established by risk assessment and experience.

No strict test schedules exist. However, a simple risk assessment will identify the suitability of an asset for the application and environment in which it is being used and whether a change to the suggested retest frequency or even removal of the equipment altogether is appropriate. Criteria that may influence the decision include:

• Location of the equipment
• Equipment type and class of construction
• Frequency of use
• Competence of user
• The installation method
• Previous records
• Whether the equipment is on hire

You should regularly review the frequency of visual examinations and electrical tests. You must pay particular attention to initial inspections and electrical tests to determine whether the frequency or equipment type needs to be changed.

Various people have responsibilities for electrical equipment, these being:

• Property owners, equipment owners, company owners, directors, and line managers
• The person undertaking the formal visual examination and electrical testing
• Maintenance managers
• Operators of the equipment – to monitor the equipment they use and ensure it has no obvious faults or damage

Visual examination is vital and always precedes electrical testing. It often reveals major defects that testing alone would not show. Effective hierarchical progression of in-service visual examination and/or electrical testing categories include:

• Operator checks (no records if the equipment is OK).
• Formal visual inspection (recorded).
• Combined visual examination and electrical testing (recorded)

Portable appliance testing is the visual examination and electrical testing of portable electrical equipment used in industrial, commercial, or public access areas and locations (including rented property) to ensure they are safe to use and cannot present an electrical hazard to the operator or anyone in their vicinity.