Using electrical equipment safely and responsibly in the office is crucial, not to mention a legal requirement for all employers and a duty expected of employees.
On this page, we cover:
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As an employer, you have a legal responsibility to protect your employees’ health and safety. In the UK, this duty of care is set down in a law called the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.
Within that law are the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. These dictate every aspect of how electricity should be used in the workplace, including making sure electrical equipment is safe and fit for purpose.
The regulations not only give employers a legal duty of care, but place responsibility on employees, contractors and other similarly employed workers too.
We cover the main guidelines below. To read the regulations in full, click here
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Providing an electrical safety certificate—known as an electrical inspection certificate (EIC)—is likely to be a condition of your business insurance.
This details the installation work, inspections and testing you’ve carried out on the fixed electrical wiring in your building.
Landlords of business premises are responsible for the building’s electrical safety certificate and arranging any necessary repairs to the wiring systems.
Tenants have a duty to inspect, test and maintain all the electrical appliances.
Arrange to have a “periodic inspection” carried out. This is similar to portable appliance testing (PAT), but a qualified electrician comes in to inspect and test your fixed wiring rather than your portable appliances.
It’s recommended that you have a periodic inspection every five years.
After the periodic inspection, you’ll be issued with an electrical installation condition report (EICR). This will list any faults, damage or problems that mean you’re failing to comply with the relevant laws, regulations and standards.
Under the Electricity at Work Regulations, you have a legal duty to keep all your portable electrical equipment in a safe condition.
However, one problem with the regulations is that they don’t tell you how to do this, or when—just that you need to!
Generally, the best method—as recommended by the Health and Safety Executive—is to employ a system of three safety checks:
We explain these further below.
SAFETY CHECKS FOR PORTABLE ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Type of check | Carried out by? | How often? | |
User checks | The employee using the equipment | Before every use | |
Visual inspections | An employee with basic electrical knowledge (usually gained through training) | Depends on the class of equipment, but at regular intervals: | |
Class I (earthed) | Every 6–12 months | ||
Class II (handheld) | Every 6–12 months | ||
Class II (not handheld, moved infrequently ) | Every 2–4 years | ||
IT equipment (computers, monitors) | Every 2–4 years | ||
Portable appliance testing (PAT) | An electrician, or an employee with sufficient knowledge and experience (i.e. more than that needed for visual inspections) | Recommended once a year (but not compulsory) | |
It’s good practice to have employees check their electrical equipment (the device itself, and all the cords) before they use it. They should do this with the equipment disconnected from the electricity supply.
What to look for | |
|---|---|
Damage to cables, plugs, wall outlets or a device’s outer cover | |
Burn marks on equipment, electrical cords, plugs and sockets |  |
Trapped or knotted cables |  |
Equipment that may have suffered water damage |  |
Doing a proper visual inspection requires some basic electrical knowledge. While it incorporates the user checks mentioned above, it also involves more closely examining the plug’s inner components.
If your equipment has moulded plugs, you will only be able to check the fuses.
While a visual inspection is usually enough to detect most electrical faults, some issues can only be identified through portable appliance testing (PAT).
This is where a suitably trained person (often an electrical contractor from outside the company) tests the portable equipment and marks it with a “pass” or “fail”.
PAT is a three-part process:
PAT process | Reason |
|---|---|
Visual inspection | Checks for damage, loose wiring, problems with fuses and so on. |
Earth continuity test | Checks for a good connection between the mains plug and the earth point on the device. Carried out on all Class I electrical equipment |
Insulation resistance test | Tests the cable to make sure there’s very little current escaping through the insulating sheath that covers the electrical wires. |
Only portable equipment needs to go through full PAT. In a lot of cases, the initial visual inspection will identify most risks.
Although the law isn’t specific about how often you should put your equipment through PAT, it’s generally recommended that you do so once a year.
However, when deciding whether testing is needed, you should consider:
Although the law doesn’t define “portable equipment”, it’s taken to mean any electrical equipment that:
In a typical office, this would include:
Electrical equipment can also be classified based on its electrical output and whether it’s earthed or double-insulated (see the table below).
There are a number of classifications, and each has its own symbol. The three classes you’re most likely to encounter are as follows:
Class | Symbol | What it means |
|---|---|---|
Class I equipment |  | Equipment that has only basic insulation and so is “earthed”—in other words, it has an earth circuit and earth wire for protection. Without the earth connection, it could cause an electric shock if you have defective equipment. Examples: Kettles, microwaves, toasters |
Class II equipment |  | Equipment that is “double-insulated”. This means it has extra insulation and needs only live and neutral wires. There is no earth circuit and earth inside the plug. Examples: Desktop printers, lamps |
Class III equipment |  | Equipment which operates at such a low voltage that it’s incapable of causing an electric shock. May be used alongside devices in different classes (e.g. laptop chargers might be Class 2). Examples: Laptops, smartphones |
When you conduct your safety checks, it’s good practice to keep a record for each piece of equipment. This should include:
This website has template documents you can use for your record-keeping. You’ll find a PAT certificate here and an electrical installation condition report (EICR) here.
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