PAT Testing News Round-Up - Issue 40

• Win a PAT tester
• Unsafe iPhone parts lead to fine
• Product recalls being ignored
• Specialist PAT training at your fingertips
• PlugSafe highlights electrical safety concerns
• ‘Plug and Play’ PAT with the Apollo 500

Win a PAT tester

There is still time to enter our twitter competition to win a Seaward PrimeTest 100 PAT tester worth over £300.

The competition has been running for just over a month, and comes to an end this weekend.

If you don't have a twitter account, it only takes a minute to create one, just visit twitter.com/signup. Twitter is excellent for keeping up to date with industry news, new product releases and creating new business. So why not sign up today, follow @SeawardPAT and enter our competition?

For full details on our twitter competition visit www.seaward.co.uk/win-a-primetest-100

Unsafe iPhone parts lead to fine

A businessman who sold dangerous electrical iPhone parts has been ordered to pay a total of £12,500, after a joint prosecution by Ealing and Kensington and Chelsea Councils.

The Southall-based Myfone Accessories Ltd was found guilty of 15 offences of selling unsafe electrical items and three indictments for breaching trade mark laws.

Trading standards officers found 16 counterfeit mobile phone face plates; 89 iPad mini cases and 145 unsafe laptop adaptors at the company.

The items were being sold to retailers in and around Kensington and Chelsea, as well as in other parts of west London. All were completely untested, non-compliant with EU electrical safety standards and posed a real risk to consumers of causing fires; serious injury or even death.

Ealing's deputy leader and cabinet member for community services and safety, Councillor Ranjit Dheer said: "Cases like this show how councils are teaming up to crack down on the illegal trade of dangerous and fake goods; backed by the national body.

"The net is really closing in on criminals who try to dupe consumers and put them in danger just so they can turn a cheap profit." Full story at www.ealingtoday.co.uk

Product recalls being ignored

More than 4 million household appliances have been recalled by manufacturers in the past four years with faults that include a risk of fire or electric shock, and yet the majority may still be in UK homes.

The findings are reported in a study published by Electrical Safety First. Since the start of 2011, 228 different electrical products have been recalled– including seven types of fridge, four washing machines and seven hairdryers – yet typically only 10% to 20% of recalled products are ever returned or repaired.

Underestimating the risks posed by recalled products is a major factor in the low recall success rate. Many people surveyed by Electrical Safety First said they associated recalls with ‘annoying faults’ rather than safety, and 2.6 million UK adults say they have knowingly ignored a recall notice. The Charity wants to raise awareness of the risk of ignoring a recall notice after it found that 77% of people would be more likely to respond if they understood the potential dangers.

Electrical Safety First is also keen to stress that whilst there have been a number of high profile fires involving kitchen ‘white goods’ in the past year, smaller items can also pose a safety risk.

Its research found that a fifth of UK adults would be more likely to respond to a recall of a large product than a small product, yet the Charity found the electrical items most reported as faulty or dangerous are smaller ones such as chargers, hairdryers, toasters and kettles.

Full details at www.electricalsafetyfirst.org.uk

Specialist PAT training at your fingertips

Seaward has launched a new online training resource providing direct access to dedicated training courses for users of its market leading PAT product range.

The new Seaward Training Portal provides immediate and convenient access to a wide range of training courses that are designed to improve the knowledge and competency of those involved in PAT testing.

As well as user guidance on specific Seaward products, the informative courses include a more general introduction to PAT and detailed advice on the IET Code of Practice. All candidates will receive a certificate of completion.

To mark the launch of the new portal, special introductory prices are available for specialist courses on the Seaward PrimeTest50 and PrimeTest 100 testers, as well as the more general PAT Testing to the 4th Edition of the IET Code of Practice programme.

Full details at www.seaward.co.uk/training.

PlugSafe highlights electrical safety concerns

A special electrical safety initiative highlights threats to consumer safety through the availability of counterfeit and unsafe electrical plugs and sockets in the UK.

The PlugSafe information portal is run by a voluntary group of professional Electrical Engineers who are working with other bodies to oppose the threats to safety posed by faulty electrical goods, illegal counterfeits and loopholes in standards. Unsafe chargers and adaptors also come under their scrutiny.

The group was formed in response to fears that consumer safety was being compromised. Of particular concern is the number of web retailers who advertise counterfeit plugs which, although being fraudulently marked "BS 1363", are not compliant.

Among the dangers highlighted on the PlugSafe website are counterfeit fuses, plugs with a partially sleeved earth pin, problems with colour coding of wires, faulty mouldings and poor plug assemblies.

For full details or to give your views visit www.bs1363.org.uk

'Plug and Play' PAT with the Apollo 500

Seaward's Apollo 500 provides fast and efficient electrical appliance safety testing alongside advanced test data handling capabilities.

The new compact and lightweight unit incorporates all the recommended safety tests for workplace appliances in line with the IET 4th Edition Code of Practice. With both battery and mains power operation as standard, alongside fast start-up and power saving features, the new instrument is particularly suitable for high volume PAT applications.

A large colour display and intuitive menu-based operating system makes the Apollo 500 highly user friendly and a built-in risk assessment tool aids the user in determining the appropriate re-test periods.

The Apollo 500 also incorporates advanced data handling features that include an internal memory for up to 10,000 test records, USB upload and download to PATGuard 3 software, and remote data transfer to PCs via smartphones using Bluetooth connectivity.

Compatibility with Seaward's PATGuard 3 software also means that complete test records can be easily and securely managed on a PC, with the fast production of reports, test certificates and client invoices.

The Apollo 500 is part of the new concept family of Seaward PAT testers introduced by the Apollo 600 - the all in one multi-tasking tester and health and safety management tool. More at apollo500.seaward.co.uk

Do you use Seaward PAT testing equipment? - If you think you may have a story for future e-news bulletins, please let us know by contacting us here.