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News Release from: PowerPlug UK | Subject: Contract PAT testing
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 03 September 2004
RMC engages PowerPlug for PAT testing
RMC Group plc has appointed electrical appliance testing (PAT) contractor PowerPlug (UK) to ensure the safety of portable electrical equipment at its Barrington plant.
RMC Group plc, a materials supplier to the construction industry, puts safety at the core of its operations and has appointed electrical portable appliance testing (PAT) contractor PowerPlug (UK) to ensure the safety of portable electrical equipment at its Barrington plant At the Barrington site RMC manufactures cement for the building industry
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 30 Sep 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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PowerPlug has been working with RMC at other sites for the past four years; using PowerPlug's 'Safe System' for optimising safety and reducing costs, RMC's portable electrical equipment is inspected and tested according to its pattern of use, which increases the frequency for high-risk items and lowers it for those appliance that are situated in low-risk environments.
PowerPlug examines and tests equipment more often where it is subjected to heavy use - like tools and appliances in the kiln area - but many items of office equipment which are static and rarely unplugged do not require testing at the same intervals.
The electrical equipment at Barrington has been assessed by PowerPlug under four separate risk environments and each of these zones is classified under a different testing schedule.
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Potential danger lurks in the workplace kitchen, says Alan Preen, managing director of portable appliance test and inspection company PowerPlug UK.
The offices with low-risk equipment attract the lowest frequency of inspection and testing.
This is in accordance with the requirements of the Electricity at Work Regulation 1989 which requires employers to maintain electrical systems and to inspect and test any equipment which has a cable and plug and is portable according to the pattern of use.
Under PowerPlug's 'Safe System' a monitor of faults and failure rates determines the appropriate safe period between tests.
In areas of low risk this can be as much as four years.
An intermediate level of risk has been identified at Barrington.
This covers laboratory and hard-floor areas where inspection and testing is required more frequently than in the offices but not as often as in the tool workshop.
Here the use of tools which are likely to suffer wear and tear leads to an increased risk and therefore a decrease in the period between testing.
The highest frequency tests are carried out in the kiln areas where there is a high risk of defects and failures.
In between PowerPlug's visits to Barrington, RMC engineers use their own PAT equipment to check new appliances and those that display faults or any signs of unexpected wear and tear.
This data, together with PowerPlug's reports, is available in one asset database which enables RMC's facilities management to see at a glance all the information on one screen: location, description, asset number, pass/flaw/fail status or next test date.
"Safety on this site is of paramount importance," says John Sandman, electrical engineer at RMC.
"I've been impressed with the quality of PowerPlug's work of inspecting, testing and identifying items which are faulty".
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