Portable Appliance Testers and Testing FAQs

Given the fact that nowadays many workplaces are equipped with portable electrical appliances, the people in charge of them (the employer, the self-employed person, or the main contractor) are obligated to ensure that all portable plug-in electrical articles and residual current devices used there are safe, properly maintained and tested. Speaking of portable appliance testing, I believe that there are many young and inexperienced individuals who are not very well informed on this subject, which is why I decided to answer the most frequently asked questions about portable appliance testing.

Q: What is PAT?

A: Portable appliance testing (PAT) is the practice of examining portable electrical appliances and equipment in order to make sure they are in acceptable condition and safe to use. Although most electrical safety defects can be detected by visual examination, there are some that can be found solely with the help of portable appliance testers.

Q: Who is allowed to test electrical equipment?
A: Only a person who has the required knowledge and skills may undertake the testing of portable electrical appliances. A competent person will know exactly how to carry out the whole process of examining the electrical equipment and interpreting the results. You should know that there are two levels of competency associated with PAT. The first is where a qualified and licensed electrician uses electrical test instruments (for example, an insulation resistance meter) that give complex readings which can be correctly interpreted solely by a professional. The second is where an unqualified person uses a portable appliance tester which automatically tests the electrical appliance that’s plugged into it and quickly displays the test results. These results do not require technical interpretation.

Q: Which type of portable appliance testers is the ideal one?

A: Answering this question is not an easy task, as not all situations are identical. However, many experts believe that those portable appliance testers that have a wide range of tests and features are by far the smartest choice because with their aid the duration of the testing process can be significantly shortened. Today, plenty of reputable stores sell sophisticated and fully automated test and tag units that come with a wireless barcode scanner, a thermal transfer printer, a keyboard, and built-in memory to save all the test results which can save you a lot of time and energy.

Q: What happens with the damaged electrical appliances?

A: When there is a damaged or non-complying electrical article at a workplace, the person who is in charge must make sure that it’s tagged ‘out of service’, assessed by a professional, and discarded if it cannot be repaired.