Test and Tagging of Electrical Appliances

[All Safe]

The Occupational Health and Safety Act places a duty of care to provide a safe workplace. Failure to maintain electrical equipment in a safe condition, or to use equipment in accordance with manufacturer's instructions may result in injury or death to yourself, employees, or other parties. To meet the duty of care it is necessary to ensure that risk of injury from electric shock for all people at the workplace is reduced as far as is reasonably practicable. A method of achieving this duty is by testing and tagging electrical equipment, and implementing procedures for use of electrical equipment.



"Portable electrical equipment, including flexible cords need to be regularly inspected for wear and mechanical damage, and periodically tested for earth continuity and insulation resistance. Procedures for testing of electrical leads, tools and equipment and the frequency of these tests can be found in: Joint Australian and New Zealand Standard AS/NZ 3760 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment"


Energy Safe Victoria, Regular Checking of Electrical Equipment, September 2005 (http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/alerts/sa32.pdf)







All Safe are Melbourne based electrical testing and tagging specialists, servicing Victoria wide, with a range of Occupational Health and Safety services in accordance with Australian Standards AS3760. Our wide range of services include, portable appliance testing and tagging, fire protection inspection and servicing, indoor workplace environment testing and microwave oven leakage testing . We aim to help our customers manage their occupational health and safety needs by providing a solution which best matches their business.

Phone: (03) 8390 7269

www.allsafett.com.au (http://www.allsafett.com.au)

[email protected]

[Ashore]

I thought that it's only compulsory for on site electrical gear to be tested and tagged, I suppose a reminder to inspect your leads etc regularly is a good thing but I think this is only posted to get a free ad to sell their service , not what the forum is about
Wonder if they checked first if they could advertise here free
If they havent then their company ethics leave something to be desired , and if so then is this a company you would use

[Termite]

but I think this is only posted to get a free ad to sell their service , not what the forum is about
Wonder if they checked first if they could advertise here free
Started a poll roughly about this subject, was hijacked pretty quickly so I effectively destroyed it, nice to see other people have similar concerns. ;)

[Greg Q]

I can buy all the test tags I want on eBay.;) :p (actually, you can.:confused: )

I think you'll find that this is not a site-work focused group. Also, its Sunday-no OHS crap today, thanks.

[ozwinner]

I think youll find the test and tag thing is just an asre covering execise from Workcover or whatever they are called.
ALL meter boxes on site have RCD's, ANY fault with your equipment and they trip.

Al :)

[DavidG]

Bit rich when you have to get the charger plugpack for your laptop computer tagged.:(

[Greg Q]

How much do they charge for this "service"?

I had never heard of anything like this before moving here-I always assumed that it was a left-over from the Trades Hall glory days.

[ozwinner]

Too much!!
If you have to have every tool tagged every 3 months it costs a fortune.

Al :(

["Makin Sawdust"]

As a retired tech I have come across this test & tag garbage! My belief is that the units for testing are grossly overpriced and that the test they perform is utter nonsense, I am probably opening a can of worms here, I have had occassion to check electronic equipment which supposedly failed testing and it exceeded makers specs for leakage etc.. I tested same equipment on a borrowed tester of a different brand & passed with flying colours! The owner of this equipment was of the same opinion as me about the value of such testing and the equipment used but was forced to have the gear due to a government contact's requirements. Guess the price of gear was factored int contract price. Just one of many unneccesary costs we all have to indirectly bear. Cheers, Les.

[ozwinner]

My thoughts are that if you have your leads tested they are good for 3 months.
The very same day of testing you may damage the same lead and it may become dangerous, but it is still within the test.
What rubbish.

This testing thing must have been brought about by some polly buying his son/daughter/cousin a job.

With RCD's on every site you dont need testing.
Al :(

[redwood]

in the table saw feeding thread i pointed out that occ health is purley driven by public liability and insurance worries by pen pushers who wouldnt know the difference between a band saw and a see saw. common sence isnt a factor. the inspectors know jack schnizen and its the small workshops that seem to cop the wack:(

[All Safe]

Testing and tagging is more important than all of you are making out
<O:p
There are a lot of molded leads that are manufactured which will have plugs wired the wrong way and broken earths. The earth saves lives.
<O:p
In a case that a active wire torches the chassis and the case becomes electrified, a person will not get an electric shock as the current will travel down the path of least resistance i.e. the earth.
<O:p
An RCD will help most of the time but not in all cases. On some faults an RCD will not trip.
<O:p
Tools do not have to be tested every 3 months unless you are on construction sites (union sites). Under the AS3760 tools should be tested every 6 months, it is only in the Victorian construction code of practices that it states that things should be tested every 3 months <O:p

[Shane Watson]

Well I am about to do the course and get licenced to T&T...so maybe I can start a sideline business!! ;) ;) :D :D :confused: :confused:

[Zed]

maybe so all safe, however the majority of us are hobbyists so not liable to workcover lisencing.

hell of a way to introduce yourself, your hobby is unsafe, let me sell you a solution.... :mad:

[All Safe]

In most cases electrical tools are safe. Most of the problems that are picked up in test and tagging is in a visual inspection.

Test and tagging is not going to pick up every thing because the tool may be damaged 5 mins after the tool is tested. but I have found many thing that look like the are in new condition yet they have a fault that could be potentially be live threatening.<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Before use of a tool people should be inspecting them for danger signs, like damage to the cord and burning at the plug because no one wants to die at work or doing their hobby.

[Ivan in Oz]

Hey!
Zed,
throw him a Red,
show him/her .......Hmmmmm Her (me thinks)
what a Red is.
I got shown................REMEMBER...........:o

[ozwinner]

In most cases electrical tools are safe. Most of the problems that are picked up in test and tagging is in a visual inspection.

Test and tagging is not going to pick up every thing because the tool may be damaged 5 mins after the tool is tested. but I have found many thing that look like the are in new condition yet they have a fault that could be potentially be live threatening.<O:p</O:p
<O:p
Before use of a tool people should be inspecting them for danger signs, like damage to the cord and burning at the plug because no one wants to die at work or doing their hobby.

Like I said, its all a political wank.

Al :D

[Eastie]

Like I said, its all a political wank.

Al :D

What, you don't support the ETU and all those training providers making money in courses and all the electrical mobs making money from selling $1k tagging machines and tags?

I say the ETU should fight harder to have it so that only sparkies can do it - then it'd die it's due death as most sparkies couldn't be stuffed with such crap....

[outback]

In a case that a active wire torches the chassis and the case becomes electrified, a person will not get an electric shock as the current will travel down the path of least resistance i.e. the earth.
<O:p If you touch the chassis you become the earth you pelican. A properly working RCD will trip saving your life.
An RCD will help most of the time but not in all cases. On some faults an RCD will not trip. THe T&T theory is to ensure damaged leads are rectified, I doubt there are too many problems an RCD will miss that are life threatening.
<O:p
Tools do not have to be tested every 3 months unless you are on construction sites (union sites). Under the AS3760 tools should be tested every 6 months, it is only in the Victorian construction code of practices that it states that things should be tested every 3 months <O:pDifferent legislature in different states dictate different testing procedures, on top of that individual companies need to document their individual tesing regime, which may differ from legislature in as much as an individuals testing programme may deem it necassary to test more often. Add to this many busnesses aren't covered by specific legislature requiring the individual to decide on a satisfactory testing regime, and you can understand why I think this is all utter crap desigened by wallies with little willies to capitilise on honest people making an honest living.

So, show us some pics of your latest woodwork project.

[redwood]

iv got saftey switches circiut breakers in my box so i dont give a rats about the taging crap. i even have an old metabo 1/2 sheet i use with wet and dry cutting back tables, and i carefully dip the pad in a bucket with soapy water after spraying on water on the table, and in 6 years of doing that its tripped 2 times. so im not going to rush into the taging rot:p

[ozwinner]

Hey!
Zed,
throw him a Red,
show him/her .......Hmmmmm Her (me thinks)
what a Red is.
I got shown................REMEMBER...........:o

Never fear, Al is here, kabongggggg!!!!!

Al :D

[keith53]

Well I am about to do the course and get licenced to T&T...so maybe I can start a sideline business!! ;) ;) :D :D :confused: :confused:

Shane,

I did mine a couple of months ago. In Qld, to do it as a business you've got to be either a licenced electrical contractor or have a restricted electrical licence (six months, I think) and have demonstrated experience. We got a contracting company to do ours at work last year and the cost was $30k but admittedly, that was the first time we had it done seriously. Won't cost anywhere near that in the future.

I tend to agree that its just another enforced wank though.

Cheers,
Keith

[RETIRED]

At every Working With Wood Show every lead (even new ones in the pack), every lathe that a demonstrator is using, every sander and in fact every tool and light is tested and tagged. Remember that it is every show. No tag, no work.

Whilst I don't agree with the Companies approach to coming on the board I still think it is a relevant point for tradies working on site and if it made 1 person look at their leads it is probably a good thing.

[echnidna]

But then again, how many other forum members hold testing qualifications??

[Ashore]

Well I am about to do the course and get licenced to T&T...so maybe I can start a sideline business!! ;) ;) :D :D :confused: :confused:
Shane I know at least 7 tradsmen and a couple of marine engineers here in NSW that have done the course just to test and tag their own stuff , or mates gear at a resonable cost, their big cost is the tags themselves
I almost did the course myself along the same thoughts of doing a backyard buissness but shmbo vetoed it saying yourve finally fully retired don't start any new buissnesses.

The realy outragious thing I find is that the tools have to be checked weather they have been used since the last check or not Have a chippie mate that has an angle grinder in his trailor among other stuff may only use It once a year if that but has to get it tagged each 6 months
The other example I heard was the painter only plug in thing he had was a radio , he was working on the telstra building in newcastle and got done for $500 , radio wasn't tagged

[Ivan in Oz]

But then again, how many other forum members hold testing qualifications??

Yep,
not that I use it much.
To busy making 'Clean' water; Caling Stupid Insruments:( :(
and generating 'Lectricity; where I work......:eek:

Sorry where I am Employed:o

[echnidna]

The other bum thing bout the regs is that brand spanking new equipment straight out of the box must be tested and tagged.

[Schtoo]

Testing and tagging is more important than all of you are making out

Oh yes, it is important, but not as important as you are making out.


There are a lot of molded leads that are manufactured which will have plugs wired the wrong way and broken earths. The earth saves lives.

I have yet to see a molded plug that was faulty. And I guess I have seen quite a few...

:p

In a case that a active wire torches the chassis and the case becomes electrified, a person will not get an electric shock as the current will travel down the path of least resistance i.e. the earth.

Last time I checked, most portable tools were double insulated, like drills and circular saws. Of course, you know that, or at least you should. And you are witholding that information, yes?

:p

An RCD will help most of the time but not in all cases. On some faults an RCD will not trip.

True, but those faults usually get caught by the circuit protection. You know, the thing they teach you in trade school the first few days. Fuses and breakers only protect the wiring. The RCD is a people protector.

:p

Tools do not have to be tested every 3 months unless you are on construction sites (union sites). Under the AS3760 tools should be tested every 6 months, it is only in the Victorian construction code of practices that it states that things should be tested every 3 months :p


Ya know, I distinctly remember having 6 different colour tags at one point, and they matched to 2 different months each. Basically, tested every month. Not sure where that was though, might have been Sydney...

But that's all beside the point now.

You sound like the kind of fella that eats in the lunchroom all by himself because nobody wants to talk to him. Only time that happened to me was when I read the trivia questions in the paper and started answering them before the question was finished...


So, uhh, which cereal packet did you get your tagging permit from?

Because you sure as heck aren't an electrician of any repute if you have to resort to this kinda BS to drum up business.

Schtoo, tagged thousands of tools and leads, never made more than a beer off it. :D

[Shane Watson]

While I wasn't joking about doing the T&T course. I am joking about making a business out of it!!....Ain't that silly.....:D :D :D

[Ashore]

While I wasn't joking about doing the T&T course. I am joking about making a business out of it!!....Ain't that silly.....:D :D :D
Why Call your self " ALL SAFE'R" And I doubt if anyone would complain about you posting an add here , and if they did ... well ... Swish :D

[jimc]

Some comments on new appliances. Approx 6-8 years ago, IBM Australia shipped tens of thousands of brand new PC's and monitors where some power cables were wired the wrong way. To add insult to injury, there was no distinction between good and bad. IBM conducted a huge recall and for teh big corporate clients, they employed sparkies to test every cable and apply red insulation tape near the plug if it passed.

The company I worked for had just received 5000 brand new PC's and monitors!

[Markw]

My wife works in a vet surgury as a dog groomer where she baths, clips,blow dries, cuts nails (pet-icure :D ) etc and NO this is not an add for her work and we don't really need any more clients - word of mouth is all that is needed for more than enough work.

Anyway, one day this sleeze came into the place and started demanding that he be shown the test tags for the hydobaths, humidicrib thingys for pups or kittens and even the cash registers and other fixed appliances like PCs etc. This tu%d then started to threaten the staff with calling in WorkCover and the issue of fines when they say that there are no tags.

If I had of been there I think I would have taken a baseball bat to him. To make make threats to people for presecution or use their business services to avoid it is the lowest scumbag act imaginable. I think I would still use the bat across his face. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Sorry folks I must put the respectable person face back on.

From one side I agree that tagging should be carried out especially where my wife uses the hydrobath. Hydro's are a notorious problem with RCDs in that you can have a high humidity environment under the bath which will cause the device to continually trip on a neutral earth connection without showing any dangerous conditions being present. This same problem is very evident where pool pump equipment is present - quite often not RCD protected due to this problem.

What they don't tell you is that fixed equipment does not need to be check for up to 5 years, but this would not include the hydro as the environment would be considered hostile with the water. Note here that most equipment is replaced within 5 years in commercial environments. Nor would they tell you that most of the other stuff is on 12 month cycle, no this company or at least their representative will lie & cheat to extract the most out of the poor bast$$ds. Where's my bat I'm getting angry again :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Felder]

How much do they charge for this "service"?


It is a ridiculous sum, Greg. I think the last time we had it done here we shopped around and got the cheapest possible for about $6.50 per lead:eek:.

I had to take my hat off to the guy who did it though - he was a young bloke (20?) and was a third-year apprentice electrician. For the first year of his apprenticeship he worked for a bloke who would use him to just T&T electrical cords. He was paid very little (as apprentices usually are) and soon got jack of it all. So he quit working for that bloke after twelve months and set up his own business, tagging and testing.
He is allowed to do that as a second year apprentice unsupervised.
He continued his TAFE training to become an electrician and all the while he was making good bucks. This year will be the fourth year of his apprenticeship, and he will be HIRING a full-time electrician so that he can finish his apprenticeship under a qualified tradesman.:)

A case of an apprentice hiring the master.........

Very unusual and very entrepreneurial of this bloke, but it's a shame society has gone down this track.

[echnidna]

A tester can verify that an appliance is safe.

So the tester could legally repair appliances as he can safety tag it.

Why couldn't a tester make his own test gear and simply tag it after he tests his shop made test gear??????????????

:rolleyes:

[BrisBen]

Bought some gear for the guys to use on site the other day - straight out of the box so to speak

So I asked the guy behind the counter if he could tag it for me

He walked out the back, stuck the tags on...

and tried to charge me an extra 12 bucks per appliance for the pleasure

I was only spending about a grand...

My other gripe with testing is the effect it is having on the livers of Sparkies - those guys get so much booze from the guys on site it is not funny!

Oh - and when SWMBO had the bub last november - the power cord for my iPod speakers had to be tagged too !!!!

[Schtoo]

My other gripe with testing is the effect it is having on the livers of Sparkies - those guys get so much booze from the guys on site it is not funny!




Shaddap!!!

While I might not be doing it at the moment, I may be again one day and I have gotta make sure there are still some perks to the job. Aside from scrap copper and used cable drums...

Maybe should charge $10 a lead and go buy the beer myself? :rolleyes: :D


Felder, great story about the cluey apprentice. If only there were a few more guys when I was at school who had half the brains of him, I wouldn't have spent most of my time explaining everything between naps...

Says I who worked with a guy who took nearly 10 years to pass his A grade. :eek:

MarkW, find a sparky worth his salt and ask about the bath. There may be some little lurk that might allow it to be disconnected from the RCD due to it's nature, but still render it safe.

Kinda like fridges not needing to be connected to the RCD. No fun coming home after a weekend to find a fridge full of rotten food now is it? :(

[Markw]

MarkW, find a sparky worth his salt and ask about the bath. There may be some little lurk that might allow it to be disconnected from the RCD due to it's nature, but still render it safe.

Kinda like fridges not needing to be connected to the RCD. No fun coming home after a weekend to find a fridge full of rotten food now is it? :(

Actually at home I have the fridge and the freezer on two separate independant circuits - house has 3 power circuits all on independant RCDs - just so that if one were to trip without being noticed, I wouldn't lose the entire food supply. Mind you the fridge is on the TV/entertainment circuit and the freezer is on the same circuit as the office and PC equipment - not much chance of a circuit trip going un-noticed

[mickp]

electrical safety is important for everyone, but why pay some idiot to do a job that you can legally do yourself. a 1 day course and you are legally allowed to tag & test any electrical appliance.

[Gaza]

- Did the half day course 18 months ago, can not rember much...
- brought the tester thing (cost over 800 bucks)
- brought tags about 50 bucks packet 6 packts needed
- test and tag all our gear to save getting sparky envolved in it.
- i tag over 250 items per month (for site work) plus another 100 or so every 6 months which stay in factory.
- i had to buy a 3ph adaptor they guys wanted over 600 bucks get real for a couple of sockets, had in made up by a sparky.
- Companys that go around door to door should be shot, they are bloody con men.
- have not charged any one for tagging even mates etc it's just a pain writting the tag out.
- maybe i should retire now and just test and tag all day, easy life, no overheads and charge 7.00 ea.

[Wood Butcher]

In QLD if you get test and tag certification you can only tag equipment for yourself or the company that is named on your ticket. You are not allowed to tag anything else. :( That sucks, I did the course hoping that I could make a bit of extra tool money by tagging other peoples gear.

[echnidna]

- maybe i should retire now and just test and tag all day, easy life, no overheads and charge 7.00 ea.

do you get bored easily? :D :D :D

[Gaza]

do you get bored easily

it would stuck, a bit like being a meter reader for the gas or power, there is no chance of me retire any day soon just gearing up my factory with heaps of new gear.

[All Safe]

It is a ridiculous sum, Greg. I think the last time we had it done here we shopped around and got the cheapest possible for about $6.50 per lead

it depends on how many tag you have but our average rate is $5.50 per tag and it can go as low as $3.50 a tag

[outback]

DA DUMM.....DA Dumm.....................Dadum dadum dardummm.


Just when you thought it was safe to plug in an appliance.

[echnidna]

Where's the test stificate fer yer club Outback??:D :D

[outback]

I keep it stuck up me bear skin. Ya wann go lookin' then go ahed.:eek:

[ozwinner]

I keep it stuck up me bear skin. Ya wann go lookin' then go ahed.:eek:

Doesnt it hurt??

Al :eek:

[Termite]

I keep it stuck up me bear skin. Ya wann go lookin' then go ahed.:eek:
Last time I looked Outback it said "Made in China". :rolleyes:

[la Huerta]

found 2 leads of mine the other day, all with exposed wires...

check everything , hobbiest or pro...my tools get shifted around in a small space a lot , so they probibly got yanked under machines etc...dangerous stuff...



la H

[mic-d]

I get my tools t&t up here for about $3.50. Worked out it would take me about 5 years to break even if I did the t&t course and tagged my own.