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Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) - Working at Home or Remote Locations - Request for Help

John Beirne

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) - Working at Home or From Remote Locations



Not withstanding the fact that there is no legal requirement to undertake Portable Appliance Testing, there is a myriad of regulations which a Duty Holder/organisation is to adhere to to ensure that their electrical equipment is safe and officially legal to be used.



The IET has been asked by a government agency to look at how other corporate members, in particular large organisations, are approaching Portable Appliance Testing for their staff who continue to work from home.  Therefore, we would be extremely grateful if you would assist our investigation by answering the following questions:



1.  Are you currently working from home? Yes / No


2.  Are you using your firms electronic portable equipment? Yes / No


3.  Has it undergone a Portable Appliance Test? Yes / No / Not Sure

 


a.  Is there a Portable Appliance Testing sticker on the equipment? Yes / No

 


b.  Does the sticker have a Valid Until Date? Yes / No

 


c.  If yes, is the date valid? Yes / No



Use of Personal Electronic Equipment at Home for Work Purpose.



1.  Are you using your personal electronic portable equipment for your firms activities? Yes / No



2.  Has it undergone a Portable Appliance Test? Yes / No



Please do not inform us who you work for.



In anticipation, thank you for your assistance.



Kind regards,



John


  • 0
    Do you test all your personal IT equipment?


    Hmm, yes I do . And my laptop PSU has a CPC that connects to the negative side of the 19V DC output though it is marked as double insulated, and the monitors are all class I, as is the dektop machine.


    The ADSL hub came with a double insulated SMPS wall wart that was so noisy (in a radio sense) that is has been swapped for a old style  linear one.

    I am probably at one end of the distribution, I can well expect that most folk test nothing at home, and never have any issues.
  • 0
    Fantastic, thank you.  Just the information we require and it is good to see some self-help testing to reduce any risk.

    Of course, I don't use the work computer in the same room as the bowl fire on the lampholder adapter.
  • 0
    mapj1:

    Do you test all your personal IT equipment?


    Hmm, yes I do . And my laptop PSU has a CPC that connects to the negative side of the 19V DC output though it is marked as double insulated, and the monitors are all class I, as is the dektop machine.


    The ADSL hub came with a double insulated SMPS wall wart that was so noisy (in a radio sense) that is has been swapped for a old style  linear one.

    I am probably at one end of the distribution, I can well expect that most folk test nothing at home, and never have any issues.


    Really?

    Besides a bucket full of electrical tools and lots of cables, I suspect my 'shed' is perhaps more refined with my technical library and an artist's easel holding music for the ukulele - lol

    Legh

    .


  • 0
    Legh Richardson:

    Besides a bucket full of electrical tools




    Oh dear. Perhaps Santa will bring you a nice attache case with elasticated pockets for your tools. Much more engineer-like.

     


  • 0
    Ah well my own hobby kit  is a different matter - the IT equipment is more of a 'home office' setup and  my wife works from home too, so that gets a businesslike approach, as does stuff I use and do for work.

    My own stuff in garage/ workshop however is rather more 'scrap heap challenge' in appearance, and I tend to test things on commissioning or when I put them together after a repair, and there are a few items that runs with the covers off for most of the time, though no exposed live parts. There is no question about RCD failures in that part of the installation, it gets exercised regularly, and parts of the set up for testing things that are probably not compliant with anything.
  • 0
    Thank you all for your replies.  We will be producing a Leaflet with regards to working at home and Portable Appliance Testing in the near future, which may also cover subjects such as:


      Working at home and insurance cover.


      Profesional Indemnity Insurance.


     Public Liability Insurance.


     Utility Bills.
  • 0
    This is one of those exercises that seems like a good idea, but if you drill down is possibly a bit pointless.


    Laptops and other similar IT equipment doesn’t need PAT, only their chargers need checking, but what if the employees are using a cheap double 13 amp plug socket with built in USB charging sockets of very questionable quality that they wired in themselves to a fifty year old socket circuit without RCD protection?


    Where does the danger lie? In a piece of IT equipment or the installation it is plugged into?


    What issues are PAT likely to identify?



     Andy Betteridge
  • 0
    mapj1:
    Mapj1 says...
    1.  Are you currently working from home? Yes / No  ABOUT half the time


    2.  Are you using your firms electronic portable equipment? Yes / No Yes.  laptop, PSU dev boards


    3.  Has it undergone a Portable Appliance Test? Yes 

     


    a.  Is there a Portable Appliance Testing sticker on the equipment? Yes / No The laptop PSU has

     


    b.  Does the sticker have a Valid Until Date? Yes / No NO

     


    c.  If yes, is the date valid? Yes / No  N/A



    Use of Personal Electronic Equipment at Home for Work Purpose.



    1.  Are you using your personal electronic portable equipment for your firms activities? Yes / No Yes computer Monitors, hubs ADSL equipment, associated power supplies meter and 'scope



    2.  Has it undergone a Portable Appliance Test? Yes / No  Yes, by me



    Please do not inform us who you work for. That's fine.



    In anticipation, thank you for your assistance.



    Kind regards,



    John




     






    It looks like most of the equipment is visual inspection only.


  • 0
    And why would equipment have a PAT valid to date on it?
  • 0
    So the employee sets up a home office in the spare bedroom, there’s only one socket outlet that is cracked and damaged from overloading like the one in the front of my van I replaced this week whilst doing a landlords EICR.


    The installation hasn’t been upgraded in forty years and does not have any RCD protection, but the extension lead has been run under the carpet to avoid it being a trip hazard, however it is being stepped on throughout the day. The extension lead still didn’t provide enough outlets under the desk, so a multi way adapter is plugged into it.


    The lighting is not very good so the first thing plugged in is the Halogen desk lamp  bought through Amazon, it was in the eldest kids bedroom but they went to university and these lamps are banned from the halls of residence So was just sat there doing nothing.


    Then as they don’t want to run the central heating all day they shove a electric fan heater under the desk plugged into the extension lead with its multiple adapter.


    They need to charge the work phone so they plug it into the charging adapter they bought off EBay because they left the phone charger supplied in a hotel room whilst on a training course last year.


    And so it goes on.


    The employer could arrange for someone to sit in the main office then all the employees could take the supplied equipment to be checked and labelled. But actually the phone, laptop and chargers only need visual checks, which the user shone doing daily anyway.


    Unless the employer is going to pay for an electrician to visit the employees homes to check the permanent and temporary electrical installations in their home offices, then arrange and possibly pay towards repairs and upgrades to electrical installations for employees who are home owners and some tenants the whole thing becomes a going through the motions exercise.


     Andy Betteridge.

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