PAT test training

[Little-Miss]

Has anybody been trained and do it in their school?

 

Myself and the resources manager were considering it. Any interesting points to make?

[plexer]

It's boring don't do it?

 

I did a course with the LEA years ago but they still get someone else in to do it.

 

We do the odd item.

 

Ben

[rush_tech]

One of our site team trained to do it brought the machine and everything!! Not got the time to do it so they pay someone to come in every year. Quite a costly exercise!

[andyrite]

IF you are after training, this company is very good.

 

Courses PAT Testing- PAT Testing Training Courses in London Leeds Bristol Birmingham Manchester

[Domino]

I wouldn't do it.

 

You're basically making yourselves liable for electrical safety....

[plexer]

Why?

 

You test it once a year and it either passes or fails, as long as the machine is calibrated when it should be where's the problem.

 

If an item is subsequently damaged after the test making it unsafe then that's not your problem.

 

Ben

[K.C.Leblanc]

It's meant to be the most boring job known to man. We know get a contractor to do it, it used to be the job of one our science techs, he was employed through the holidays to do it. He gave it up despite having to go term time only to do so.

 

Avoid

 

Oh and our caretaker failed the test, twice.

[IrritableTech]

It's dull, makes you potencially liable, and it's dull.

 

Leave well alone if you can.

[gibbo_ap]

training...i watched a video which was narrated by some monotone muppet, took a test, passed....forgot it all

 

DULL and suicide inducing

[powdarrmonkey]

The trouble with being trained on it by the school is that you risk being expected to PAT the whole building, instead of just your kit. I'd leave well alone if I were you.

[farmerste]

i think pat testing is a necessary evil, but when you see the items that are tested by external contractors it beggars belief.

Basically something is classed as portable equipment if it can be moved around without the use of a tool to make it portable ( not a lock, etc, a tool ) but the external contractors will test 'anything with a plug on it' which is unnecessary, but safe.

External contractors will also have millions of pounds of insurance to cover themselves should anything go wrong after/during an inspection, which you may not be able to aquire.

Having an 'in house' constant program of inspection and testing is preferable to rapid pat testing done periodically.

I have myself tested so called 'failed' equipment many times, and found that the 'fail' result was due to the device being switched 'on' and the inspector had not bothered to check this !

Personally i would continue to use external companies to do the inspection, but purchase a pat tester for yourselves, so you can test repaired equipment, and items brought in from outside. ( any 'part p' test instrument will do this )

 

Originally PAT testing was aimed at building sites, and reducing accidents/fatalities there, and has spread outwards from there. So long as you remember safety comes first , you should be ok.

 

 

p.s i am a qualified electrician, and i hold qualifications in inspection and testing.

[Andrew_C]

You're buying electrical equipment and "taking it into service" without knowing if it is safe? Do you repair equipment and return it to service without KNOWING that it is safe?

 

Then you ARE liable if something goes wrong. Lots of B/S above!

 

Testing isn't difficult or onerous, but you should have training whether in-house or perhaps better, get an externally accredited "qualification". I did a City & Guilds course with Southampton City College. Training was OK, but the answers we were given for past papers weren't for the right papers which didn't help revising.

 

It is an open book, multi-guess paper which I could have done without the course, but I had been testing for some years anyway.

 

Oh yes. it is as dull as everyone above says.

[Little-Miss]

Right, thats a big fat NO then.

 

Glad i asked, will no longer spend anymore time on it!

 

Thanking you!

[plexer]

I don't electrically repair equipment as I am not trained to do so.

 

Therefore if something is repaired such as a computer with a new hard drive etc... it's not PAT tested before it goes back into service.

 

Ben

[powdarrmonkey]

I don't electrically repair equipment as I am not trained to do so.

 

It's worth emphasising this. A PAT qualification does not qualify you to repair equipment. You can only fail it.

 

That said, changing a hard drive does not require re-testing, because PAT is testing the power supply not the low-voltage part.

[Bill_Bixby]

If you do decide to do it make sure you get paid for it as you're saving the school quite a bit of money, but I tend to agree with everyone here, leave well alone.

[farmerste]

if you repair any componet in a pc ( apart from power supply ) there is no reason for the computer to be PAT tested, as all devices are low voltage.

If you buy NEW equipment it doesn't need to be pat tested before you use it.

[powdarrmonkey]

If you do decide to do it make sure you get paid for it as you're saving the school quite a bit of money, but I tend to agree with everyone here, leave well alone.

 

If it's on school time you can't be expected to be paid twice for it. Saving the school money is part of your job.

 

If you buy NEW equipment it doesn't need to be pat tested before you use it.

 

That's a matter of institutional policy.

[plexer]

You can't take on endless amounts of new responsibilities in a position and still carry them out in the same amount of time is just not possible.

 

Extra time would be required probably and would have to be paid for.

 

Ben

[Bill_Bixby]

If it's on school time you can't be expected to be paid twice for it. Saving the school money is part of your job.

 

If it wasn't in my contract I ain't doin' it. Them using you to do things you're not employed for is not part of the job.

[Domino]

Why?

 

You test it once a year and it either passes or fails, as long as the machine is calibrated when it should be where's the problem.

 

If an item is subsequently damaged after the test making it unsafe then that's not your problem.

 

Ben

 

In theory yes -

 

But say something was wrong down the line and a student was injured/killed - you'd certainly come into question in an inquest, even more so were the parents inclined to legal action (thank you for that america..) - and as you've not got an electrical company backing you I'd say leave well enough alone.

[lbradley]

Has anybody been trained and do it in their school?

 

Myself and the resources manager were considering it. Any interesting points to make?

 

im trained to do it, not worth it just so time consuming

 

I should add if i leave mine a guy from an external company does all the pc's for me

Edited April 30, 2009 by lbradley

[Andrew_C]

if you repair any componet in a pc ( apart from power supply ) there is no reason for the computer to be PAT tested, as all devices are low voltage.

If you buy NEW equipment it doesn't need to be pat tested before you use it.

Part A, agreed, part B, hmmm. My trainer was quite adamant about this; production testing is only on a batch basis, so MAY not identify every manufacturing fault.

 

The only Regulation that I can find at the moment (should be doing other stuff) relates more to "higher risk" scenarios but the gist is the same:-

 

Regulation 6 of PUWER

"Inspection is required for work equipment:

a) after installation and before being put into service for the first time, or after assembly at a new site or in a new location;

 

Imagine the scenario; you buy a new widget for work. User picks it up and gets a shock, killing them. The judge asks you "Was it safe to use?"

"No".

Go to jail, do not pass go, etc.

 

Sure the manufacturer may join you there, but you are no less culpable. Oh, and if your boss doesn't have a "safe system of work" he may join you there too, but will more likely go to some cushy open prison.

[Whisky]

Don't do it, you'll be hanging from the rafters within a week.

 

If you do decide to do it ask to be paid per item. The school will save loads by getting you to do it so don't think that they are doing you a favor.

[mrforgetful]

Our Site Manager used to do it. It would take so long that when he'd got round he had to start again.

 

Now we get external people in who fail all the computers with cracked plastic fronts. Quite annoying it's not as dangerous as the hole in the PSU in the back. Known as 'air vents'...