High praise for portable appliance test service

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 30, 2004

Professionalism, flexibility and competitive pricing were the criteria for the Strode Park Foundation when it was looking for a portable appliance testing company for its care home at Herne in Kent.

Professionalism, flexibility and competitive pricing were the criteria for the Strode Park Foundation when it was looking for a portable appliance testing company for its care home at Herne in Kent.

David Morris, Facilities Manager for the Strode Park Foundation, says: "We knew it would be very time consuming to try and do the portable appliance testing ourselves".

"In contrast, Epsilon has all the right equipment and are very cost-effective".

Strode Park Foundation is a charity offering services and residential care to people with physical disabilities.

Its facilities include Strode Park House, a converted country house which offers residential care for 44 disabled people between the ages of 18 and 65.

The 14 acre site also has a day care centre and a training centre.

Epsilon tests all the portable appliances throughout the three main buildings, including office equipment and domestic appliances such as kettles, radios and microwave ovens.

Epsilon engineers perform around 100 tests a day at Strode Park and were on site for a total of 13 working days to complete the first round of tests.

Morris was pleased at how flexible Epsilon's staff were, amending their work schedules to fit in with the Foundation's routines.

"As our residents are disabled, not all of them can be out of their rooms when the Epsilon engineers needed to test the appliances", says Morris.

"They were quite willing to move on to other tests and come back later, which we found very helpful".

Current plans envisage testing every year Morris will review this plan after two years to see if it needs to be done so often.

One of the main reasons Morris chose Epsilon was the clear reports provided.

"Previously we had paper records, but with the electronic copies of their test results that Epsilon provides, we can see what is going wrong".

" I can use the data to plan maintenance and as a guide to what to look at in future, for example, whether I need to change the suppliers of our equipment".

Test results were available only a few days after the tests were performed.

As well as physically protecting residents, the tests also protect the interests of the Foundation.

Because only approved and tested appliances can be used and any item of equipment without an asset number is prohibited, the Foundation can prove it did all it can to provide safe appliances for the use of staff and clients.

Overall, Morris is pleased with the service he has received from Epsilon: "They have given an excellent performance and I gave the company full marks on the customer feedback sheet".

"I would certainly have no qualms in recommending Epsilon to others - they know what they doing, they turn up on time, they have a professional appearance and they are a company with a national reputation".