PAT - How often?

[Discodaz]

How often do you recommend PAT testing equipment.

[Shaun]

P.A.T testing is generally done on an annual basis.

[KrazyKaz]

yep - yearly I reckon

[Corabar Entertainment]

I know that some do it every 6 months, but I think most do it annually.

I believe there are no hard & fast rules: just guidelines for different types of equipment and how they are used. Providing you are doing your visual checks, etc regularly I'd say annually is fine. However, Wolfie can probably give you the more technical answer on this one.

[Wolfie]

the simple answer is there isn't one..

It's all down to guidelines.

a lot depends on use. For example if you hire stuff to the public it should be checked every time it is hired, yet a factory employing thousands of workers may well be OK to test their stuff annually.

[colinm345]

the simple answer is there isn't one..

It's all down to guidelines.

a lot depends on use. For example if you hire stuff to the public it should be checked every time it is hired, yet a factory employing thousands of workers may well be OK to test their stuff annually.

For all my gear I was told annually:teeth:

[Wolfie]

that would be excepted in your circumstances, however if you used your equipment twice a day, every day & had 15 people working for you, you may find a 3 month check would be required.

[soundtracker]

It is a strange one indeed, i suppose the cover is annually but with a visual check everytime a piece of equipment is used, as part of your risk assessment.

[Wolfie]

I know it sounds really silly, but believe it or not if you have something that doesn't work (because it is broken or just plain knackered) it should be PAT tested.

I had this with a guy when i worked for a large computer company as a diagnostics engineer, some bloke came round to PAT test everything one day & even tested the duff electric magnifier over my workbench. It had no plug on it, half the parts had been mooched. I had been putting chits in to have fixed by the maintence staff as it was falling to buts & half the parts we missing!!. He said it was still classed as a portable appliance & needed to be tested. It failed the test (obviously) but was sat for another 12 months on my desk with a red "fail" sticker on it.

[Creature]

Mine gets done everyyear - A friend of mine is a regged PAt tester - and I do his wedding anniversary cheep and he pat tests me equipment the next morning for me :) :)

[soundtracker]

I know it sounds really silly, but believe it or not if you have something that doesn't work (because it is broken or just plain knackered) it should be PAT tested.



Or alternatively you could just bin it!
:teeth:

[Corabar Steve]

Or alternatively you could just bin it!
:teeth:
I was pondering that one myself