HEALTH & SAFETY
“MANY OF THESE FAKES CAN LACK EVEN THE MOST
BASIC OF SAFETY FEATURES.”
are of poor quality and in most cases dangerous. Most common are chargers for mobile phones - Hawkesworth has failed over 12,000 chargers and AC Adaptors for being flawed and/or fake – as well as laptops, computers, heating appliances, air conditioning units and kettles, in fact anything that requires a plug.
There are a number of giveaways that will allow an electrical engineer to tell fake appliances from the real McCoy. Comprehensive testing, including a polarity check, will identify the tell-tale signs of potentially hazardous faults, such as physical damage, non-standard cable joints, loose connections, missing screws, overloading of sockets or over-heating.
There are other obvious signs for spotting dodgy electrical appliances, like Earth pins having any part or full insulation, meaning the product is without doubt a fake. No Earth pin should ever be insulated – only the Live and Neutral.
To address safety concerns surrounding counterfeit appliances and protect their workforce, facilities managers should adopt a rigorous regime of checking electrical items. Regular maintenance, inspection and testing can expose hazardous
www.tomorrowsfm.com
electrical goods and minimise the risk of potential harm to people and damage to property, which could run into millions of pounds.
This can be achieved either in house by organising practical electrical training for members of staff and purchasing testing equipment, or through external support with the services of an experienced PAT testing company, which can import good practice by offering a more robust approach to risk assessment to ensure you comply with Health and Safety legislation.
It is often the case that companies want to complete their electrical maintenance internally, however, they often do not get around to carrying out this task or put it on the back burner due to time restraints. To fulfil their responsibilities for the safety of staff and students, particularly in the Halls of Residence, some of the most historic universities in the country are outsourcing their electrical maintenance requirements to specialist companies – particularly for out-of-hours solutions to minimise disruption and help with the smooth running of the university.
For example, PAT Testing is considered a vital element for ensuring a safer environment by St Andrews, one of the UK’s most
revered learning institutions. Halls of Residence must comply with the Government’s Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) regulations requiring frequent testing of electrical appliances.
At varying intervals around 40,000 PAT tests are carried out on St Andrews’ 40 residential buildings in Fife, including student-owned appliances, on electrical equipment ranging from hair straighteners and driers, phone chargers, kettles, blenders and toasters to vacuum and floor cleaners, electric drills, extension leads, heaters, air-conditioning units, laptops, televisions and even musical instruments, such as electric guitars. Static items such as photocopiers, printers, fax machines and desktop computers are also checked.
Businesses and landlords alike should demand a full check on appliances brought in from overseas, which may appear to be suitable for UK use but could be deadly due to faulty wiring or plugs: phone chargers and foreign power leads are particularly high risk. The advantages of efficient testing are numerous; a cost-effective, reliable and systematic approach ensures legislative compliance and provides a safer environment for all users of a factory, office, college or university.
gfld;g
www.hawkesworthappliancetesting.co.uk TOMORROW’S FM | 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56