The usual practice, if the site is large, is to circulate a form onto which the details of each item are entered by the manager of each department. This form can then form the basis of a paper or electronic system as required.

A suitable form is reproduced in Appendix A. and may be copied if required. If the site is small and there are few items to keep track of, it is still probably wise to maintain records of some sort. It would, for instance provide a check that no items were missed.

Also if your system provided evidence of very few faults being identified, this might be justification for extending the period of time between tests, and items unofficially imported onto the site would be identifiable due the labelling system

The normal approach is for each appliance to be numbered, and this is the appliance number that is entered on the record card and the label, which is to be attached to the appliance. If a serial number is also evident on the appliance then this can be useful for identification purposes, but don't rely on every appliance having a manufacturer's serial number easily seen.

The Class section of the form refers to whether the appliance is Class 1 or Class 2. This will be explained in the section under check procedures. For the visual check there is only one part of the form to complete, the others are completed at the time of the electronic test which often, but not always has a longer retest interval than the visual. Labels can be purchased from several sources, and these days show the date of the next test due as well as the date the item was last tested.

The purpose of showing the date of the next due test is for the benefit of users of the appliance.

Also bar coded labels are becoming popular, particularly when there are large numbers of appliances and electronic systems are favoured. Bar coding also helps maintain uniformity of tests applied and meaningful comparison of results.

Frequency of testing

Having completed all the forms, a decision must be made regarding the frequency of testing.

Appendix B gives the suggested retest intervals for various items. This can be used as an initial guide, but experience may, in the fullness of time, indicate that there is a need to modify the programme according to the number and type of faults found. Other factors to bear in mind when considering retest intervals include:

1/ Working environment (Dampness, Dust, Likelihood of mechanical damage)

2/ Whether equipment is hand held

3/ Age and general condition of the equipment

4/ Potential for misuse

5/ Manufacturers recommendations

6/ Modifications which may have been made to the equipment It should be noted that on building sites or other harsh environments any programme of planned maintenance should be supplemented by a daily visual inspection of the plugs and leads of all hand-held tools.