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Electrical Safety in Education

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Tim Beardsmore, Calbarrie’s Commercial Director, explains the electrical statutory responsibilities for the Education sector and why term breaks are the ideal time to get testing done. 

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) states that overall accountability for health and safety lies with the employer of the staff in schools (state funded and independent), further education establishments and higher education institutions. However day-to-day running of the establishment including responsibility for the health and safety of staff and pupils is normally delegated to the management team.

Statistics show that young people are more at risk of injury due to electrical faults than other age groups. Without the correct certification not only is the establishment putting their staff and students at risk but they may experience severe disruption to educational activities and their insurance company may not cover costs in the event of an insurance claim resulting from an electrical fault.

The law requires that testing of electrical systems should be carried out by a ‘competent person’ (someone who has the suitable training, skills and knowledge for the task to prevent injury to themselves and others).

Compliance testing carried out by staff in education establishments, albeit with the best intentions, is not going to be as effective or efficient as a trained PAT engineer, and suitable training will be required which comes at a cost. A qualified, experienced engineer will conduct approximately 500 tests per day and complete a whole site efficiently whilst freeing up skilled staff to carry out other key responsibilities.

With cuts in Education budgets establishments need to be considering more cost-effective options. Outsourcing of testing to a specialist service provider is becoming common within Education and involves transferring risk to the provider who can reduce cost and increase efficiency and effectiveness that can out-perform universities, colleges or schools trying to deliver other core services. An experienced provider will share the establishment’s responsibilities by holding the necessary insurances and online records of testing dates, and setting reminders for when inspection and testing is due. Few establishments can provide these capabilities in-house at the same level.

Our figures show that testing during term breaks is at least 20% more productive than in term-time. Some universities, colleges and schools like to benefit from fixed prices and schedule their testing up to five years ahead, with the same engineers returning year after year as they are familiar with the site. In this way the establishment remains compliant and confident that the environment is safe and they can demonstrate cost-efficiency whilst securing their budgets for the future.

Sensible and effective management of health and safety relies on the management team making sure risk is managed responsibly. Where you have staff health and safety representatives or a safety committee they can play a valuable role in contributing to the development of a positive health and safety culture.

Read the full article in Tomorrow’s FM.

Calbarrie is an awarded supplier on the Portable Appliance and Fixed Wire Testing Agreement accessible to purchasing consortia members within the Education sector.

If you require electrical safety testing or advice contact the Calbarrie team on 01242 587080, email info@calbarrie.com or complete our online contact form.

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