A History Of Testing Electrical Pat Test

The portable home appliances test (PAT test) is a topic often discussed and debated in the electrical services industry.
Although regular testing of electrical equipment was quite common in government properties, tool rental and other sectors before the introduction of the 1989 Electricity at Work Regulations (EAWR 1989), the legislation was the beginning of a much more widespread application of formal home appliance inspection and testing programs in all workplaces.
The EAWR 1989, which entered into force on April 1, 1990, set out to raise electrical safety standards within industry and commerce. This became the starting point for what is now known as the Electrical  PAT test.

Despite the uncertainty that initially greeted the introduction of the EAWR 1989, portable device testing has now become a considerable industry with sophisticated technology that makes a significant contribution to a safer work environment.
After the introduction of the 1989 EAWR, the HSE HS (G) 107 Initial Guidance Note, published in 1994, was the first complete guide on periodic inspection in service and testing of electrical appliances. Based on the advice and experience of experts in various sectors, the initial note attempted, for example, to provide advice on those types of equipment and work environments where a simple visual inspection was sufficient and those that required a combined inspection and test.
The HSE Guidance Note was quickly followed by the first edition of the IEE Code of Practice on in-service testing of electrical equipment. At that time, as the most complete guide published on the subject, this document provided the clearest message to date of the importance of establishing regular electrical safety testing and inspection routines in the interest of workplace safety, and provided more technical information on the tests to be performed. carried out and the suggested inspection and testing intervals for different work environments.

Today continues the custom of publishing new HSE Guidance Notes (now called the Memorandum of Guidance) along with the revised and updated IEE Codes of Practice (now IET). All these are available to buy at Logic4trade.
In addition to these documents, in recent years, the greatest change in PAT tests has been introduced by the recommendations of the Löfstedt Review in 2012. This review of health and safety requirements sought to bring some clarity to a situation in which It was stated that the implicit legal requirement on the maintenance of electrical appliances was applied "in a way that is too broad and disproportionate". Home