There is an abundance of all types of hand-held instruments today, especially for use in telecommunications. Yet the application of portability has been used in the industrial sense for many decades. Manufacturing processes often require the use of portable devices for routine operation or maintenance procedures, and the proper performance of these devices is crucial not only to daily production quotas but for safety in the workplace as well. This is the basis for the evolution of Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) and PAT testing labels.
The PAT process (more correctly referred to as In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment) addresses the condition of a all electrical appliances to ensure the safety of their use, whether portable or not. There are official guidelines, established and monitored by City and Guilds, that apply to electric devices that are used in manufacturing and other industrial processes. However, PAT testing in a less strict sense is applied to any environment where electrical devices are used, such as in hotels, schools, hospitals, and offices. PAT testing labels may or may not be evident in all of these environments.
The requirement for using PAT testing labels most often applies to those situations in which the devices being used present a greater hazard, depending on the workplace environment and number of people who would be affected by an electrical malfunction in the device. Examples of these types of environments are generally factories or other manufacturing businesses that are involved with substances that are more potentially hazardous, such as chemical processing.
PAT testing labels are an added assurance of safety in these environments.
PAT testing labels apply to three different categories of safety status for an electrical device: "Passed", "Tested for Electrical Safety", and "Do Not Use After". These categories refer not only to the status of the device in question, but often apply to the integrity of the connection to the power supply as well. Hence, the PAT testing label affixed to an electrical appliance or tool may indicate a problem with the internal wiring or circuitry of that device or to its external wiring as well.
Testing of electrical devices focuses in general on the integrity of the earth bond, the insulation resistance, and the polarity of the device. This can be established by a visual inspection in some cases, where improper or debilitated wiring is readily apparent. In other cases, a testing tool that addresses the circuitry within or without a device or an appliance will be used. Testing devices may operate on a simple "pass/fail" mode, where any Earth or insulation resistance problem presents itself as a "fail" indicator. More precise and in-depth testing equipment may be used to examine the various phases of wiring in order to indicate what type of PAT testing labels are required.
PAT testing labels come in a variety of templates. The lack of an overriding legislation that standardizes guidelines for all electrical testing allows for a wide spectrum of information that will be found on PAT testing labels. Even the most basic of test labels, however, will provide a sufficient status report that will indicate whether or not the electrical device is safe for use. Additionally, the minimum information presented on a test label, such as a pass or a fail, will most often show the date of the test as an aid in preventing further use of a suspected inferior device.
The other options that are available in PAT testing labels are generally aesthetic in nature. Some manufacturers of PAT testing labels design their products to be more easily read from a distance, with larger lettering or by using symbols to represent the status of the label along with the lettering. Some labels are made of more durable material to assure readability for a longer period of time. There are also labels that come with a laminating system that can be applied over the testing label after the appropriate information has been applied to the label. Still others are self-adhesive, which are often used to wrap around a cable, such as the main lead to the power supply.
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