1 – Ignorance Rife Amongst Brits!

In a recent survey by the Electrical Safety Council, some alarming figures have come to light regarding the general public’s ignorance with regards to electrical safety. Almost 1 million people admitted to attempting to repair an appliance whilst it was still plugged in to the mains, a staggering 12.2 million people admitted to knowingly using faulty plugs or sockets and 1.5 million people confessed that they have ignored burning smells coming from appliances or plug sockets! It’s equally amazing that deaths in the UK due to electricity are so low, bearing in mind what the general public are willing to overlook.

If your plug sockets emit a burning smell then something is (obviously) not right. It is essential that you call an electrician to conduct electrical safety testing and fixed wire testing in order to determine the nature of the fault and rectify it as soon as possible. Yes it may be more expensive than simply ignoring it, but what costs can you attribute to the lives of you and your family?

2 – Why Computerised PAT Testers Are Worth Their Weight in Gold

Although far more expensive than the basic pass/fail PAT testers, computerised PAT testers are worth their weight in gold because they speed up the process of portable appliance testing, especially when a large number of appliances need to be tested for electrical safety.

When testing portable appliances, the testing electrician needs to record the date and result of each appliance tested and write out the label deeming the appliance either passed or failed. This only takes a couple of minutes but when testing potentially hundreds of appliances in an office or factory, this simple task of recording the data can become incredibly time consuming.

When using a computerised PAT tester, the data is automatically recorded and the passed & failed label can also be automatically printed too, leaving the testing electrician to simply sign each label when affixed to each appliance. Having the data digitally recorded speeds up the PAT test process significantly, especially where tens or hundreds of appliances need to be tested.

3 – Legionnaires Cases Up in New England

It has recently been reported that a rise in cases of legionnaires disease in the USA’s New England states of Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as in parts of Canada. As of November 2011 eighteen cases had been reported in Maine alone, seven cases more than the previous year. The eighteen affected by the disease are aged between 26 and 89, they live in several different counties within the state, and hence no common cause for the infection has been determined as yet.

Legionnaires disease is contracted by inhaling infected water droplets from cooling towers, air conditioning systems, spa baths, showers and a variety of other sources. Symptoms of legionnaires disease include high fever, coughing & chest pains, chills and muscle aches. Health authorities in New England are encouraging businesses who have not already done so, to undertake a legionella risk assessment along with regular legionella testing in order to minimise the risk of infection.

4 – Ministers Shake up Health and Safety Regulations

Ministers are finally responding to public and media moaning about some of the more ridiculous health and safety guidelines. These include the banning of snowball fights in the school yard, office workers being told they cannot put up Xmas decorations, pantomime performers not being allowed to throw sweets to the audience and Christmas tree lights requiring PAT testing every year.

As usual, the media is skewing the reporting of this health and safety shake up by mingling some good regulations in with the more bizarre, for instance, the PAT testing of Christmas tree lights is perfectly logical, especially when used in public places in all kinds of weather where faults could develop and pose a considerable risk to the general public if not tested regularly.

I’m all for getting rid of some silly health and safety guidelines, however when some necessary PAT testing regulations are potentially under the axe, regulations which will save lives or serious injury, I feel this shake up may be going further then necessary. However we cannot believe everything we read in the news.

By Carl Liver and Barry Summers