A manufacturer of industrial cleaning equipment has specified Seaward portable appliance testers to ensure its commercial activity complies with important electrical safety requirements.
Part of the world’s number one cleaning technology provider helping businesses worldwide to achieve outstanding cleaning results every day, Kärcher UK provides a range of pressure washers, scrubber dryers, vacuum cleaners and more to contract cleaning and facilities management companies across the UK, operating in different target sectors. Clean Sweep Hire, part of the Kärcher group provides specialist hire of a wide range of Kärcher industrial cleaning equipment throughout the UK.
As part of its contractual obligations to customers, the firm must ensure the electrical safety of the equipment it supplies and therefore deploys a nationwide field service team, whose responsibilities cover in-service safety checking and testing of tens of thousands of appliances located at hundreds of sites across the UK and Ireland.
This is part of an ongoing asset management and maintenance programme Kärcher has implemented, which reflects a robust approach to safety management, linking test schedules with equipment identification and maintaining comprehensive test records for all items tested.
To ensure requirements are met accurately and reliably, the company has been a long term investor in Seaward PAT testing equipment, currently using the PrimeTest 250+ with PATGuard 3 testing software to ensure compliance with electrical safety regulations such as IET 5th Edition Code of Practice. This covers the in-service inspection and testing of electrical equipment including RCD trip time, protective conductor current and touch current.
With a large user display and push button operation, the portable PrimeTest 250+, together with supporting test and tag printers, are carried by the field service team from site to site to undertake comprehensive checks including 3-phase leakage test and a 250V DC insulation test. The testers also feature ‘zap’ circuit to ensure accurate and reliable earth continuity testing.
The incorporation of an internal memory supports data handling needs, enabling test records to be downloaded and transferred directly on a regular basis to a central database that is managed by Kärcher’s field service team leader – North East, Steve Laidlaw, who administers PAT testing operations. The use of these features is completed with the production of important test certificates and test reports to demonstrate full compliance with in-house safety management protocols.
The PrimeTest 250+ and PATGuard 3 test results management software forms part of a comprehensive range of Seaward PAT instruments, accessories and software that have been specifically designed to meet the needs of electrical safety duty holders in all workplaces.
