Faq
WRONG, WRONG This is so WRONG!. All people conducting a business or undertaking have a duty of care to ensure saftey in the work place. This means, as far as practicable, to ensure electrical safety as well. It is possible to be electrocuted and the safety switch not even sense a problem. RCDs are an additional safety device. They are what you rely on when things go wrong. They are not a replacement for a proper safety inspection program. On top of that, safety switches often fail as well. That is why safety switches require testing. I compare safety switches to air bags in cars. Just because you have an airbag, doesn’t mean you don’t wear a seat belt. See “Limitations of RCDs on Wikipedia.
No, you can use your electrical appliance straight away. It’s a requirement that a “New To Service” tag is applied. This tag states the date you put the appliance into service and the test due date. We supply these tags free of charge to existing clients and you apply them as you purchase new items. We will test the appliance along with all the others on your next test cycle.
Each test starts out by the technician identifying the type of equipment they are about to test. This includes Class I, Class II, Load rating, Control types, etc. The technician then inspects the appliance for physical defects. If there are any safety issues at this point, an electrical test will not be carried out. The visual inspection includes guards, controls, evidence of abuse, over heating, lose parts and more. Finally, based on the type of appliance that has been identified, a series of tests are performed by a PAT (Portable Appliance Tester). This device performs the tests in a programmed order and records all of the results within its memory. A label is printed according to either a PASS or FAIL result and applied to the appliance.
There are different requirements for different appliances and where and how they are used. For instance if you have a manufacturing business, tools on the factory floor would require testing every 6 months. RCD’s (Safety switches) require testing every 12 months and items such as computers in your office every 5 years. Our technician will discuss your particular circumstances with you. Trusted Test and Tag keeps track of all appliances and dates for retest so you don’t have to worry about being out of date.
Yes! The employer has a duty of care to ensure that the workplace is safe and that means that if employees bring items (even phone chargers) to work, they must be tested in accordance with AS/NZS 3760:2010.
No. The whole idea is to detect items that could cause harm and remove them from the workplace. Items that do not pass inspection will be tagged as dangerous and are not to be used. The appliance should then be moved to a secure area, pending its repair or disposal. This is a good thing as it means that a potentially dangerous hazard has been uncovered and removed.
Records should be kept of tests and the date they were performed. Trusted Test and Tag captures all of your appliance information and stores it in a database. On completion of Testing and Tagging, you will receive a complete list of all appliances and RCDs that have been tested. Should you lose a report, we are able to supply you with another copy free of charge.
If your mate works on construction sites, he is required to have inspections more regularly than if you were working in a factory or manufacturing business. Having said that, each site is inspected and assessed for the degree of care / abuse that appliances receive. Trusted Test and Tag’s technician can advise you on your individual workplace situation to ensure you always remain compliant.