Portable Electrical Appliances

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 put the responsibility upon the employer to assess work activities that use electricity or are affected by it, and identify all foreseeable risks.

Apart from ensuring that the fixed supply to the workplace – mains, wiring, sockets, etc. - is safe, employers have a duty to ensure that all portable electrical appliances in the workplace are safe to use.

Portable appliances are the cause of 25% of all reportable electrical accidents. The majority of such accidents are caused by electric shock, but other accidents with electrical appliances result in burns from “arcing” or from fire caused by electrical faults. Around five deaths a year involve portable electrical appliances.

The employer has a responsibility to provide safe equipment. This duty may extend to equipment brought into work by an employee.

Portable electrical appliances are electrical equipment with a plug and a lead and which can be easily moved around. (eg kettles, drills and vacuum cleaners). It can also include items such as computers, refrigerators, fax machines or photocopiers that are moveable, although they rarely may be moved in practice.

Employers must arrange for a competent person to test (a common phrase in use is “PAT” testing) all portable electrical appliances. This must be done “as often as may be necessary”.

Many times an employer has been held accountable for an accident at work involving an electrical appliance when an employee has said “Oh, that appliance hasn’t worked for ages. I thought everyone new it was not safe”. In such a case, the employer would be called upon to show that they had carried out their responsibilities. Was there a written procedure to allow employees to report faulty equipment, and for management to deal with it? Was there a system to ensure the safety of equipment? Was there a procedure to withdraw such equipment from use?
In the absence of such evidence, the employer might well be held liable for the consequences, which could be not only a claim for compensation by an employee, but also action by the Enforcing Authority.

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