Legal Obligation

The legislation of specific relevance to electrical maintenance is
- the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
- the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
- the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998
- the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992
- and the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 (Northern Ireland, 1991)

 

The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 puts a duty of care upon both employer (sections 2, 3 and 4 etc) and employee (section 7) to ensure the safety of all persons using the work premises. This includes the self-employed.

 

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 state:
“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))

 

The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 state:
“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))

 

The Electricity at Work Regulation 1989 state:
“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))

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

The Health and Safety Authority is the national body in Ireland with responsibility for securing health and safety at work.

The issue of portable appliance testing has in recent months been raised with a number of staff of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), 10 Hogan Place, Dublin 2. This has largely arisen since the requirements of the Work Equipment part of the 1993 General Application Regulations are being interpreted as requiring this type of testing. In particular S.I. 188 of 2001 which brought in a comprehensive set of amendments to the 1993 General Application Regulations, requires, in some circumstances, periodic inspections and testing of work equipment. Moreover the more recent amendment S.I. 53 of 2003 goes in to more detail.

Background:

In line with good practice and legal requirements this equipment must be maintained so as to prevent danger (Regulation 36 of Part V111 of General Application Regulations 1993). It must also be suitable for the work, and where it is not possible to ensure that it can be used safely by employees without risk to their safety or health, appropriate measures are taken to minimise any such risk (Regulation 19 of Part IV of the 1993 General Application Regulations-).

 

Part IV of these Regulations was amended by SI 188 of 2001 to include more extensive provisions for work equipment including the provisions set down in Regulation 19(i), 19(j), 19(k) and 19(l). These provisions deal with inspection and testing of equipment which includes portable electrical equipment and require, inter alia, at 19(i):
‘It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure that:
in the case of work equipment which is exposed to conditions causing deterioration liable to result in a danger to safety or health—
(i) periodic inspections and, where appropriate testing is carried out’,

and at 19 (l)
‘Inspections carried out under paragraphs (h) and (i) are carried out by a competent person and are appropriate to the nature, location and use of the work equipment’

 

Thus for equipment exposed to certain conditions, this provision requires periodic inspections and, where appropriate, testing of the equipment. Persons carrying out such inspections and testing must have sufficient knowledge to identify visible faults and to use any testing equipment necessary. Accordingly based on risk assessment and taking account of the conditions set out in the Regulations, employers are obliged to organise such an inspection and testing regime.

Advice:

Regulations of 19(i) of SI 188 of 2001 require periodic inspection and, where appropriate testing to be carried out.
It is considered an appropriate response to queries or situations involving portable electrical equipment and the necessity or otherwise of PAT for Inspectors to require:

 

1) That portable equipment including its flexible lead and plug should be periodically inspected as part of the overall risk assessment. Such inspections will be necessary when equipment is exposed to conditions causing deterioration, such as on construction sites or other similar work environments. Portable equipment used in other less hostile working environments may also deteriorate due to misuse, age, or other factors.

 

2) That testing of portable electrical equipment be carried out periodically and where the visual inspection reveals any damage or other indications of visible fault. However visible deterioration such as damaged plugs or leads should be rectified by replacement.

There is no Irish Standard, Code of Practice or Guidelines available at present to assist in deciding on appropriate testing intervals. It depends on the type of equipment, the work environment and how the equipment is used. For example is it hand held equipment or equipment which is rarely moved. There is an IEE Code of practice (UK) issued in 2001, which contains a table of recommended test intervals and a number of HSE guidance documents. These may be referred to in advising employers on accepted good practice until we are in a position to prepare comprehensive guidelines or to adopt a future ETCI Code or Guidelines.