We are told regulations are not retrospective so although we now have sleeved pins there is nothing to stop continuing to use the sleeved pins, the fig of 8 lead is rated 2.5 amp and so really should have a 2 amp fuse, however I would say that is being pedantic and 13 and 3 amp are the two preferred sizes so a 3 amp is ample.
However the lead is permitted in Europe and for rest of Europe there is no fuse in the plug so as long as fused under 16A is there really a need for a smaller fuse, the appliance needs to be 2.5 amp or less with a fig 8 lead, but does it really need to be fused at that? So risk assessment time, if something damages the lead could the fault be anything less than a short circuit? It would seem unlikely, and if a short circuit would a 13A fuse rupture? That seems likely, so in real terms a 13A fuse will protect the cable just as well as a 1A fuse, however this has to be down to the skilled person to decide.
With PAT testing we pay some one to use their skill to decide if the appliance is safe to use, they in turn take out insurance so if they make a mistake with their professional judgement the insurance will pay out, that is the whole idea of professional indemnity insurance, as the client all you need to do is check that insurance is in place. So end of the day it is the guy doing the inspection and testing of the in service electrical equipment who has to decide, the only point is where semi-skilled labour is used.
There was a court case not got links on this PC where a semi skilled guy sent to plug in a tester, when he got an unexpected result, likely OL and instead of writing that down he went into the rest hut and asked what the result should have been and wrote this down instead. The result was an error by both a plaster and plumber did not trip the power and a lady was killed as a result. However the point was it was not the semi skilled guy who was found guilty, but the foreman who was found guilty because he used labour which had not been trained to the level required.
This means the old idea of having a skilled guy do the first PAT test and selecting which code should be used on the tester and then using semi skilled to retest each year to same standard may not be accepted any more. Instead they pay the electrician by how many items he has tested and even when the quantity tested shows he has not really done the job they still accept the results.
I had a top of range Robin PAT tester, in the main only PAT testing was when we had repaired something and it was tested before being put back into service, however one odd day I was asked to do the PAT testing for a remote office and workshop, not too many items, so as an exercise decided to go for it and see how quick I could do it, I was really surprised, I averaged 1 item every 6 minutes, I had expected to be a lot faster, main problem was each time I moved to new desk or work bench the PAT tester did a auto self test, once the test button was pressed it went through the inbuilt test which took a fixed time, but these times are fixed in the IET guide lines when using an auto test, the manual testers are a lot faster, once reading steady write it down.
So semi skilled PAT testing is slower than skilled because it has to be automatic, there should be a window in the 13A plug where without removing a screw you can see the colour so know the size
spot the problem with that! So even with a window
you still need to open the plug to check size of fuse. So try timing your self checking fuse size, what we hope for is the PC and Monitor all daisy chained so earth wire onto monitor and one test but you stick labels on 4 items so although test took 8 minutes it works out a 2 minutes a test. But get a day where you find just 3 items a room and there is only one way to get your numbers up, stick on a label and run.
Question is what will happen if something goes wrong and it goes to court, it would seem likely from other court cases if the tester is doing 100 items per day or more, the court will find management at fault, it will claim management should know with that many items the tester could not be doing it correct. Yes where you sit in a workshop and all the items are brought to you 8 minutes an item is possible even faster, but you are suppose to test taking account of the environment, can't do that if sat in a workshop, however when I repaired an item it was then tested in the workshop so is that not the same.
