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Electrical safety testing of hire equipment: No compromise The Hire Association Europe/Event Hire Association’s Code of Practice (CoP) providing guidance on electrical safety testing in the hire industry has been revised. Nathan Barwell, business development engineer for Clare, part of the Seaward Group, explains more. Hirers providing tools and equipment for use in the workplace have a responsibility under a range of statutory legislation. These include the Health and Safety at Work
Act 1974, the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998. For hire equipment intended for use for DIY in a domestic environment, hire companies also have obligations under the Consumer Protection Act and the Low Voltage Regulations. The updated CoP will assist companies that hire electrical equipment and appliances to the general public or businesses and recommends good working practices for
the management of in-service electrical equipment for hire companies. It also underlines the legal duty of care operators have to ensure that equipment made available for hire remains in a good safe working condition and that routine electrical safety testing is necessary to ensure that all equipment supplied by the hirer meets this requirement. Hire equipment falling within the scope of the CoP includes Class I (accessible metal parts) electrical appliances, where the safety of the operator depends on the
integrity of one layer of insulation and a grounding conductor which bonds all the metalwork of the equipment to ground thus ensuring that, in the event of a fault in the equipment, any fault current is diverted to ground and not through the human body. Class II (Double Insulated) electrical equipment is where there is no grounding connection and the operator’s safety depends on the integrity of two layers of
insulation. The first layer is a basic or functional insulation and the second is supplementary or protective insulation. It also covers IT equipment powered by plug and socket, portable and movable equipment, fixed equipment such as cookers, heaters, ac equipment, luminaries as well as 110V equipment. Reasonable safety steps For any company involved in the hire business or in the servicing of rental equipment, a number of reasonable steps can be taken to ensure the safety of electrical
equipment. In the first instance, only electrical equipment from a reputable manufacturer/supplier should be utilised for rental purposes and the equipment should be of a high quality, capable of withstanding arduous usage and hazardous environmental conditions. Items of new equipment should also meet all applicable engineering and safety standards. Once a new product is
introduced for hire, thorough and clearly defined visual inspections must be undertaken before and after the equipment is used. These should range from the cleanliness of the equipment, through the existence of appropriate operating instructions, safety and warning signs to evidence of damage to the product itself and power cords. It is estimated that 90% of all
potential defects on portable equipment can be detected by visual inspections. However, the remaining 10% of undetected faults or defects are potentially lethal and in many instances expensive to identify and overcome. As a result, it is imperative that the routine testing of rental equipment is undertaken after hire to detect any possible non-visual defects that may pose a danger to customers during use. For example, a broken
ground continuity conductor in a power tool resulting in the operator providing the path to earth of any fault current and the breakdown of insulation which can give rise to potentially dangerous leakage currents, are typical of the types of electrical deterioration which might not be discernible by a visual inspection. Manufacturers of new
electrical products have the ability to access national or international product standards, which outline – Continued on next page
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