The great pat testing scam

[Deleted member 9648]

One thing I cant stand is pat testing,but in the current climate work is work and beggars cant always be choosers. We have a few small pat testing contracts which come up regularly throughout the year and often fill in those slack days.
For many years now we have done most of the maintenance,repairs and small installations in a very large secondary school...but we have never been able to get anywhere near the big boys when it comes to pat testing,we are way to expensive. Considering there are many thousands of appliances in the school I'm not worried.....I'd lose the will to live. I've always had my suspicions on how they do it and today I found out.
I'm working there at the moment installing yet more sockets for yet more PC's and by coincidence the pat test boys from a large national company are there as well.
So I set a little test,there on the table was a 4 way lead not in use,so I removed the cord grip screws in the plug, shortened the earth back so it was stretched really tight,and left the terminal screw loose. Now anyone with any pat testing experience will immediately spot the potential danger here,but when I came back to it a while later sure enough it was exactly as I left it with a PASSED sticker on it.
A bit later in another room I was working in, one of these clowns appeared to do the test so I was able to see him perform. First up was a ceiling socket with a projector and speaker plugged in...."Can I borrow yer steps mate"? he enquired. "Go ahead" I told him and watched with interest as he proceeded to ascend two rungs,and without unplugging the appliances,stick a PASSED sticker on the plugs...before descending to ground level again.
Somewhat incredulous, I asked,"Is that it........"
"Yes" he replied " We are not allowed to use a tester from access equipment without a proper risk assessment,so it's a visual inspection only"
For a moment I considered pointing out that a visual inspection might actually involve more than just applying a sticker,but he was a big bloke so I rejected the idea.
Next was a convector heater,now to give the bloke his due he did carry out an earth bond test on the case,but he didnt take the cover off the plug or check the lead for damage,there could of been a nail for a fuse in there for all he knew.
To cap it all,last knockings I tranferred all my clutter to an art room ready for tomorrows jobs and there was a box of newly tested glue guns on the table so I couldnt resist a look.
The first one I picked up had splits and damage to the flex sheath in 3 different places with the inner cores exposed......PASSED
Another one had a broken plastic case which was held together with sellotape......PASSED

I'ts clear that these guys are simply charging to stick a sticker on a plug,the only reason we cant get near them on price is because we are stupid enough to do it properly.
I'm not convinced the school would be bothered if I told them what they are paying for,at the end of it they will have the paperwork and will have met the legal requirements.

For all i'ts good intentions PAT testing has become nothing more than a legalised scam

 

[Notsosmart]

I would put a seed of doubt in there though, have a word with someone who would at least have an inkling of what you are talking about and the implications behind the yippee kay aye actions of these 'testers' ~ Who's the H&S officer of the school?

Now we know how the 0.50p a plug merchants work

 

[jimmyjazz]

I've seen the same when working in a college, PAT guy comes into construction workshop & tests drills etc. In & out in under 5 minutes with 20+ items tested, all passed including a drill with no plug.

 

[cornburn]

Whereabouts in the country are you wirepuller? We've had the PAT testers in the high school we've been working at this week too, you're not stealing my business at the other end of the building are you?

 

[jboy1888]

I know of a testing company caught on the night shift stickering everything in under 20 minutes per floor then sitting back with a cuppa only to be caught on camera the next day. Needless to say they dont PAT test for this client any more.

 

[rocker]

Disgusting. With kids as well. You should grass them man, honestly, they don't deserve the work.

Only when people realise what you get for your cheapo buck will things change.

 

[cbw]

I told some bloke recently, £2.00 an item....."How much!!!???" was the reply, "Ive been quoted 75p an item" I explained what I did and what it involved and got the contract.....Shocked at my own sales ability!!!

 

[Sintra]

And still cheap at that.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Cornburn.....I'm in the south east mate....thats all I'm saying lol.
I have made the situation known and shown the evidence to a person at the school who will do something about it with discretion. But i'ts a bit of a dodgy area,it's not my place to be checking up on others and normally I dont get involved in slagging off other peoples work,but this really wound me up,specially as I have a son at the school who may well be using those appliances.

 

[UNG]

When Portable Appliance Testing was first introduced the rates charged reflected the work needed to provide a proper inspection and report, now it would appear to be a pile em high test em cheap as chips

Alot of the blame for this IMO comes down to this competant person "qualification" that the HSE brought in and to some people infers proper qualification. It is apparent that some competant persons are not sufficiently trained to competantly carry out the testing and made aware of the legal resposibilty and most importantly paid a proper rate so that they are not reduced to only attaching stickers to make a living

It is unfortunate that somebody has to be seriously injured or killed before the law is applied I wonder if these people realise the implications of somebody being killed when they have carried out the "test"

 

[Deleted member 9648]

Good points there UNG, I agree......It seems the testers this morning have been ********* and told to completely retest the art block with the offending items....but that is just what I saw where I was working,the rest of the school has apparently been finished.

 

[Deleted member 9648]

sorry you had to edit that Lenny....I thought I had done enough to make it acceptable.

 

[Adam W]

I also get annoyed with Portable Appliance Testing - I get moaned at for taking too long and failing too many items, then I find items which were passed the previous year with incorrect polarity, non-approved fuses, plugtops on the end of T&E (with no sleeving) or still have the bit of cardboard on the plugtop around the pins; I often feel i am the only 'mug' who tries to test properly and wonder if I should just join them and load all my labels into something similar to one of those pricing guns they used to use in supermarkets and go around firing stickers at everything.

Unfortunately this seems to be the product of customer demand - they would prefer to take their chances with a cowboy who has done a 1 day course and can undercut someone with 4 years of training and a working understanding of the task in hand; Health & Safety is viewed as 'box ticking' and 'jobsworthery' until something goes wrong, then they look for someone to blame so they can make a claim.

This kind of cost cutting seems to be the modern way of doing things, in every industry; gone are the days you could make an appointment with the bank manager and discuss all your financial needs with someone who knew what they were talking about, now you have to speak to someone in a call centre who has had a morning's training on how to relay the information their computer has just given them.
Sadly I can't imagine this situation improving, if anything it will get worse.

 

[chopper]

hi guys iv just been told i have a PAT testing job coming up , when the gaffer told me i was gutted , the company wants all the it equipment PAT testing and says theres about a 1000, i personally dont like PAT testing we previously did all the other portable appliences which was aboout 5oo but 2 of us did that , one of us unplugging and plugging back in the other testing. i am not looking forward to this, but in an other respect its a job at end of day and valuable experience for my apprentaship.

 

[sg160187]

Unfortunatley when you pat test you say the item has passed on that day if it goes wrong the next week they would probaly be able to escape responsibility by saying that it was to a suitable standard when they tested it and that the fault became present afterwards.

I obviously agree that the level of testing you spoke of with the sticker happy slapping brigade is wrong and dangerous but I also agree that people would prefer to pay the lowest price.

 

[UNG]

Unfortunatley when you pat test you say the item has passed on that day if it goes wrong the next week they would probaly be able to escape responsibility by saying that it was to a suitable standard when they tested it and that the fault became present afterwards.

When the PAT testing requirements were introduced and believed and porported to be a legal requirement alot of the draconian guiidelines laid down by the HSE were boardering on unworkable I had a number of conversations with the HSE regarding test intervals and was told that the person carrying out the testing should recommend a test/inspection interval suitable for the duty of the equipment an example used during one conversation was a floor polisher which it was suggested may require an inspection interval of as little as 6 weeks and if a incident occured within that time and 6 weeks was deemed to long the HSE would prosecute the inspector if the site owner didn't get it checked inline with the inspectors recommendation then liability passed to the site owner

Thank god they changed the requirements

Unfortunately it would appear a PAT sticker seems to overrule common sense these days and indicates to some people that the equipment is safe even if it damaged between tests

Can we not bring back common sense or is it to late with this nanny state

 

[dixon9]

As usual nothing will change until a case arises when someone has a serious accident.

 

[Notsosmart]

This kind of cost cutting seems to be the modern way of doing things, in every industry; gone are the days you could make an appointment with the bank manager and discuss all your financial needs with someone who knew what they were talking about, now you have to speak to someone in a call centre who has had a morning's training on how to relay the information their computer has just given them.
Sadly I can't imagine this situation improving, if anything it will get worse.

Whilst I agree with the rest of your post I have Got to take umbridge with you on that comment; within the banking industry there are so many regulations and restrictions on the call centre operatives that this isn't true at all ~ 6 weeks initial training, on the job mentoring & call coaching at all times.
My Mrs works for one of the only banks not needed to be bailed out, and she is 'coached'* on calls at random (* Basically a euphamism for trying to catch her out) she finds that referals from local branches have basic errors that she would get disciplined for, and any new directives have to be implimented without mssing key phrases (that's why when you call you get a load of whaffle that no one really listens to).

When the PAT testing requirements were introduced and believed and porported to be a legal requirement alot of the draconian guiidelines laid down by the HSE were boardering on unworkable I had a number of conversations with the HSE regarding test intervals and was told that the person carrying out the testing should recommend a test/inspection interval suitable for the duty of the equipment an example used during one conversation was a floor polisher which it was suggested may require an inspection interval of as little as 6 weeks and if a incident occured within that time and 6 weeks was deemed to long the HSE would prosecute the inspector if the site owner didn't get it checked inline with the inspectors recommendation then liability passed to the site owner

Still; the person using the equipment has a duty of care to visually check the lead each time they use it.

Thank god they changed the requirements

Unfortunately it would appear a PAT sticker seems to overrule common sense these days and indicates to some people that the equipment is safe even if it damaged between tests

Can we not bring back common sense or is it to late with this nany state

Amen to that,

 

[acat]

Bring back common sense you got more chance of winning the lottery with no ticket



Chris

 

[Adam W]

Whilst I agree with the rest of your post I have Got to take umbridge with you on that comment; within the banking industry there are so many regulations and restrictions on the call centre operatives that this isn't true at all ~ 6 weeks initial training, on the job mentoring & call coaching at all times.
My Mrs works for one of the only banks not needed to be bailed out, and she is 'coached'* on calls at random (* Basically a euphamism for trying to catch her out) she finds that referals from local branches have basic errors that she would get disciplined for, and any new directives have to be implimented without mssing key phrases (that's why when you call you get a load of whaffle that no one really listens to).

OK you caught me - 'a morning' was an exaggeration and maybe I could have used a better example, but the point is after a number of years doing a job you can expect someone to know what they're talking about, whereas now (particularly larger) companies treat their staff as disposable because they know they can replace them within a few weeks, with someone with no experience.

I have worked in an insurance call centre myself - I think it was about 2 weeks of training, then we were given a photo album full of prompt cards to read out parrot-fashion, and sat in front of a computer which could basically only be used to send generic letters, and draws a graph telling the manager what percentage of your day you've been on the phone and how much time you've spent on toilet breaks.
Many of the people i was working with couldn't care less about the customers and would fob them off with silly excuses to get them off the phone as quickly as possible to make their graph look good, which it seemed to me defeated the point of them being there, just like the guys who do a 1 day course and go out slapping stickers on 100 appliances an hour without even looking at them properly.