Is PAT Testing a Legal Requirement?

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There is currently no legal requirement for PAT Testing. The Government however has put Regulations in place that pertain to the maintenance of electrical appliances and the most effective way to ensure that these Regulations are met is through PAT Testing.

The UK Health and Safety Executive along with Insurance Companies will expect you to perform PAT Testing to ensure that you are compliant with certain Regulations including:

  • Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
  • The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989
  • The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER)
  • The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999

Non compliance with the above mentioned Regulations can result in fines of up to £5,000 and/or six months imprisonment. Fines have been seen to go as high as £20,000 and offences heard in Crown Court have carried sentences of more than 2 years imprisonment in addition to unlimited financial penalties.

So even though PAT Testing itself is not legally required. It simply helps you to protect yourself by ensuring that you are complying with these Regulations.

 

Christmas Facts

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Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling accidents.

Three people die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue.

Eighteen people had serious burns in 1998 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

Nineteen people have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolate.

Thirty one people have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.

Fifty eight people are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers. (Incidentally, in Birmingham they don’t even use proper screwdrivers. Instead they get out the ‘Birmingham Screwdriver’, otherwise known as a hammer.)

One hundred and one people since 1997 have had to have broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet.

1000 people a year are hurt falling off chairs putting up Christmas decorations, or falling out of lofts while looking for the decorations

Don’t become a statistic: BE SAFE THIS CHRISTMAS

Self-Employed Health and Safety Law Update

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In 2011, the Löfstedt Review recommended that those self-employed whose work activities pose no potential risk of harm to others should be exempt from health and safety law. This recommendation was accepted by Government.

So, from 1 October 2015, if you are self-employed and your work activity poses no potential risk to the health and safety of other workers or members of the public, then health and safety law will not apply to you.

We estimate that health and safety law will no longer apply to 1.7 million self-employed people like novelists, journalists, graphic designers, accountants, , financial advisors and dress-makers, where their work does not pose a risk to the health and safety of others

For more information please go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/self-employed/index.htm

Changes to Health and Safety Regulations: Construction

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Changes to health and safety Regs: Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) are the main set of regulations for managing the health, safety and welfare of construction projects.

On Monday 6 April 2015, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 replaced the 2007 Regulations

 

Key changes of the new CDM Regulations 2015

Download our ‘CDM Regs 2015 made simple’ infographic (510KB, PDF).

  1. All projects must have:
  • workers with the right skills, knowledge, training and experience
  • contractors  providing appropriate supervision, instruction and information
  • A written construction phase plan
  1. Project where more than one contractor is involved (domestic or non-domestic) must have 1 above plus:
  • principal designer and principal contractor must be appointed
  • a health and safety file
  1. If work is scheduled to:
  • last longer than 30 working days and 
  • have more than 20 workers working simultaneously at any point in the project
  • OR exceeds 500 person days

All of 1 and 2 above plus

  • Client must notify project to HSE