Electrical Safety
Definitions
Portable appliance testing (PAT testing) - System of formal, recorded visual checks and combined inspection and testing using a PAT testing meter. This is usually carried out on any equipment which has a plug, whether or not it is portable. (Portable handheld equipment is likely to need more frequent PAT testing than equipment which tends to stay in the same place)
Electrical equipment - Includes anything used, intended to be used or installed for use, to generate, provide, transmit, transform, rectify, convert, conduct, distribute, control, store, measure or use electrical energy. It includes every type of electrical equipment, from a 400 kV overhead line to a battery-powered hand lamp.
(Electrical equipment includes conductors used to distribute electrical energy such as cables, wires and leads and those used in the high voltage transmission of bulk electrical energy, as in the national grid.)
System - An electrical system in which all the electrical equipment is, or may be, electrically connected to a common source of electrical energy, and includes such source and such equipment. It includes all the constituent parts of a system, such as conductors and electrical equipment in it, and is not a reference solely to the functional circuit as a whole.
Danger - Risk of injury.
Injury - Death or personal injury from electric shock, electric burn, electrical explosion or arcing, or from fire or explosion initiated by electrical energy, where any such death or injury is associated with the generation, provision, transmission, transformation, rectification, conversion, conduction, distribution, control, storage, measurement or use of electrical energy.
Planned preventative maintenance - Replacing parts and consumables or making necessary adjustments at preset intervals, so that risks do not occur as a result of the deterioration or failure of the equipment.
Condition-based maintenance - Monitoring the condition of safety-critical parts in carrying out maintenance whenever necessary to avoid hazards which could otherwise occur.