TEST AND TAG MELBOURNE

Why Test & Tag?

OH&S WH&S requirements place a legal obligation (duty of care) on employers to ensure the safety of their workplace. Electrical safety testing (Test & Tag) is recognised as being a significant step towards reaching that obligation.

How Often Do I Test & Tag?

The frequency of testing is based on the environment in which the equipment operates. The back of a ute is a harsh environment compared to a server in an air conditioned controlled environment. The office on a construction site is quite different to a corporate office on the 5th floor.

Many insurance providers require their clients to meet these standards, which helps protect you against many forms of liability and can often reduce your premiums.

Again, how often electrical testing and tagging is needed really depends on the environment where the equipment is located and where it is used.

Periodic inspection can be done at intervals as little as 3 months and up to 5 years (generally reserved for climate controlled server rooms).

Construction work sites must be 3 months whereas factories and production areas are generally 6 months.

Various environments are different; for example a computer in a clean and orderly office environment is completely different to a computer located in a high school with curious kids.

A laptop may regularly travel as luggage. This is why a detailed risk assessment should be done to establish your business-specific testing requirements and testing interval.

Are Test & Tag Companies the Same?

Unfortunately No. Quality of training can vary significantly. The equipment and capabilities of the test equipment are not the same – cheaper equipment offers less accuracy and greater risk to you.

As with any service you get what you pay for. Appliance testing takes time, there is no way around this fact. If someone says their tester can provide twice as many tests in a day as another you can be confident it does not equate to equal service. Never accept hand written tags.

All our equipment is calibrated regularly to ensure your tests are accurate and without reproach. Our equipment cannot produce a tag without performing a test. Our equipment produces individual computer generated test tags at the time of the test that relate directly to that appliance as well as being recorded in your printed test results.

What is involved?

The test and tagging process involves two important steps:

The first is to conduct a thorough visual inspection of the appliance and the power lead to ensure they are in good condition and there is no evidence of damage that could present a danger to the user or other people. The visual test often reveals tell-tale signs of future equipment failure.

The second step is to electrically test the appliance using a Portable Appliance Tester.

Depending on the outcome of the visual inspection and electrical testing, either a PASS or DANGER tag is attached to the lead of the appliance. If it fails it must be removed from service and management notified.

The type of appliances that need to be test and tagged are typically the type of appliances that have a flexible supply lead (power cord) that you plug into a standard power point. The standard refers to any appliance that plugs into an outlet.