What are the best ways to reduce tools failing PAT test?
The best ways to reduce tools failing a PAT test are directly related to how you work with your team directly and involve careful planning to ensure compliance. These fall into two major areas:
Communication
There must be a system in which an employee can report and track any changes or damages for specific tools. This would ensure that both employer and employee are aware of not only tools that are in regular use, but their safety status. Not only this, but it would create accountability, so that workers are less likely to mishandle tools by either leaving them unsupervised or using them incorrectly.
Organisation
Each tool must have a regularly updated and easily accessible record that can be referred to at any time for both employer and employee. This would ensure that all tools are kept track of (where they are, who is using them, their current safety state) so that potential for damage and PAT test failure is reduced.
By implementing a digitised asset management system, these two areas can be greatly improved. A carefully created and maintained system will allow your business to keep track of tool data so that an unsafe tool is never out in circulation on the site without being fully compliant - making it less likely to fail a PAT test when the time comes.
To learn more about electrical appliance regulations and how best to optimise your business to adhere to these, download the 2019 Construction Site Safety Guide: your one-stop manual to all things construction site safety and how to make your business as compliant as it can be. In the guide, you will find more in-depth descriptions about regulations you need to abide to, helpful ways to manage your assets and ultimately, how to improve overall compliance and safety on site.