One would expect that just like in many other areas, the US would be a leader in electrical safety, but it seems like that’s not the case when it comes to setting the regulations and procedures for this area. It’s all done in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the Republic of Ireland, actually. As regulations and procedures were created and developed over the years, considering building wiring and machines operated by individuals, so did the industry producing the equipment for effective conduct of these procedures. Introducing a very convenient electrical safety process: PAT Testing.
PAT, or portable appliance testing is a procedure in which all electrical appliances in a factory or other type of industrial site are tested whether they’re working properly or not. Special attention is paid to appliances operated by people, and in that way is actually lowered the risk of electrocutions on the work place. This procedure has a formal term and is known as “in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment”, which only points to its main characteristic: the device used for testing is portable, not the tested appliance.
The best thing about this procedure is that it is very easy and fast to conduct. If you are responsible for checking the safety level of the man-operated machines in your company, than you can make your obligation a lot easier by searching for portable appliance testers for sale. You can easily find these online, and have them delivered in no time. Using the testers is easy, and so is the entire procedure.
The first and most important thing is a visual check: are there any fried cables, or anything damaged that you can spot with your eyes? If there is, then the next thing to do is to advice users to stop using the damaged appliance until the damage is repaired. Afterwards, tests for verification of grounding continuity and soundness of insulation of the parts that carry current are made to assure that they are working properly. These tests are done with the PAT tester which displays results as either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’. Once the test is done, technicians would use stickers to mark which appliance is safe and which is not for future notice.
You can find mainly 3 types of portable appliance testers for sale on the market: pass/fail testers, advanced testers that show where the problem exactly is, and computerized testers that can be connected to a computer and offer a detailed analysis of the appliance’s condition.
It is important to have experience in conducting PAT testing. Most portable appliance testers for sale come with a user guide, but for the best and most effective use of it, it is recommendable that you have some kind of experience with PAT testers.
