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Portable appliance testing

10 January 2023

Engineers from Circuit Compliance will be at County Hall to undertake portable appliance testing (PAT) between Tuesday 10 January and Friday 3 February 2023.


Circuit Compliance will be working their way through our offices to test our electrical appliances and check that they are well maintained and safe to use. You'll be able to identify the engineers as they will be wearing corporate clothing and carrying ID, but if you have any concerns, please contact the Commissionaires on tel: 01629 536673.

To help things run as smoothly as possible, please ensure that all portable electrical equipment - either supplied by the council or personal equipment brought into your workplace - including extension cables, are made available for testing when the engineer arrives in your office.

Circuit Compliance will also be basing themselves in room 85 each day between 3pm and 4pm so that you can bring in electrical work equipment that you have taken home to support flexible working and get it tested. This includes items such as laptops and mobile phone chargers or any other item with a plug on it that is supplied by us for work. You can book a five-minute slot within this hour between 10 January and 3 February 2023 by calling the Commissionaires tel: 01629 536673. If you are bringing in larger items of equipment, for example a monitor, we suggest you park on Smedley Street to reduce the distance you need to carry items but please be aware of parking restrictions. If you need help carrying items, please contact the Commissionaires when you arrive.

For some colleagues, there may be a higher moving and handling risk associated with carrying items such as monitors in for testing, therefore, a visual inspection done by yourself at home may be enough, particularly if these items sit in the same place at home and a visual inspection shows no obvious fault.

Double insulated equipment, which can be identified by a symbol on the plug - a square within a larger square - does not require testing but if this symbol is not immediately visible then a PAT test will be required.

The time slots can also be used for any office equipment that was not made available at the time when your work area was PAT tested, but if you come across a large number of items stored in one place, please email karen.webster@derbyshire.gov.uk who will arrange for the engineers to re-visit when you are in the office.

Please remember that you must check your electrical equipment before use for any visible faults. If you spot any faults, report them to your line manager and do not use the equipment until it has been checked. You should also formally record a visual inspection of your electrical equipment every 6 months using our visual inspection checklist.

More information about electrical safety can be found in our electrical safety policy and guidance and you can read more about maintaining portable electrical equipment in low-risk environmentsin the HSE guidance note.