As a gigging musician I am yet to be asked if my kit has been PAT tested. Sure, I have read stories of frantic internet searches after a venue suddenly request it, but it’s not happened to me.
Even if I was asked, how would I get it, how much would it cost and what is it anyway?
Never fear, Hale Guitar Studio is here to answer your questions and fix it for you.
What is PAT testing
The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require that any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained in a safe condition. However, the Regulations do not specify what needs to be done, by whom or how frequently
Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) is a set of visual inspections and electrical tests which indicate that an appliance is in a safe condition.
Examples of the types of equipment that should be checked are listed in the Health and Safety guidance but a good indication is if you plug it into a power supply or wall socket, in a place of employment of public place, it should be maintained in a safe condition.
Surely this is the venue’s problem.
Well, yes and no.
The venue has a responsibility to have systems and processes in place to ensure the safety of their customers and staff. That’s the origin of those stories. If a band are going to be setting up 1.21 Gigawatts of equipment off the back of the venue’s power supply, there shouldn’t really be any surprise when they ask for an assurance that it’s not all gonna go bang, and not in a good way.
More significantly, when I play for pay I do so as a self employed person. The Health and Safety at work act is very clear on this.
“It shall be the duty of every self-employed person who conducts an undertaking [ ] to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that he and other persons (not being his employees) who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
Yes, that’s why I have Public Liability Insurance
Great decision. Who wants an expensive court battle over some drunk guy tripping over a cable and being off work for 3 months with a back injury. Public Liability Insurance is there to protect you and yours if something unfortunate happens.
Trouble is the policy wording probably expects you to be proactive in minimising any risk. The Musicians Union’s website confirms this in relation to their own Public Liability Insurance;
“Members have a duty of care to take all reasonable precautions to prevent damage or injury to third parties and/or third party property and to comply with all statutory requirements and safety legislation imposed by any authority. Failure to comply with the above policy condition could prejudice a claim.”
And if the source of a fire turns out to be your powered bass bin…
Seriously! This is getting too hard now
See that’s where you’re wrong. It’s easy.
Reasonable precautions are all that is expected and common sense prevails. A regular service of electrical equipment will go along way to showing you are taking safety seriously.
Book a service at Hale Guitar Studio and PAT comes free of charge. Alternatively, if you just want a PAT inspection we can get you shored up and ready to rock in no time.
Happy Riffing
Chris
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