Accsure™ Electrical Test & Tag
Exclusive to Tagoff
™
WHY YOU NEED ACCSURE™
Please ask your current or proposed Testing and Tagging Company if their process of Testing and Tagging offers you, the client, documented evidence that the Test Equipment that they use to Test and Tag your appliances on-site is accurate within the tolerances set in the Australian Standard AS/NZS 3760:2010?
Almost all Testing and Tagging Companies will answer ‘Yes we have our Equipment Calibrated every 12 months according to the Australian Standard.’
This, however, is not correct. This is a fundamental issue, for how can you establish a pass or fail measurement while Testing and Tagging unless your Test Equipment is accurate? You simply cannot.
The relevant Australian Standard (AS/NZS 3760:2010 In-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment) clearly states:
“The equipment required to carry out the tests detailed in this Standard should be subject to routine verification at regular intervals to ensure it is working correctly and its accuracy is maintained.”
Nowhere in the Standard is a 12 monthly timeframe given for the re-calibration of Portable Appliance Testing Equipment. Why not? It is simply not enough.
Please think about how many tests are performed by most Testing and Tagging Technicians. The industry standard is around 140 – 180 tests per day. (This average is dependent on Environment, Test Equipment used and Technicians Experience.) Let’s take the lower end for this example:
140 tests per day x 20 working days per month = 2800 tests per month
2800 tests per month x 12 months = 33,600 tests per 12 monthly periods per Technician on one machine.
Would 1 calibration per 33,600 test cycles meet the preferred good practice of the Australian Standard for “routine verification at regular intervals to ensure it (the Test Equipment used), is working correctly and its accuracy is maintained?” Hardly!
If the equipment that they use is inaccurate, not within the 5% tolerances for accuracy set by the Australian Standard (AS/NZS 3760:2010), then you risk the following:
- Passing Appliances that should Fail, thus leaving potentially dangerous appliances onsite that could harm your company’s staff or visitors exposing your business to negligence.
- Not Meeting the Australian Standard for Test and Tag thus leaving your business exposed to possible negligence in the event of an electrical safety incident.
- Providing you an inaccurate report thus leaving your business exposed to not covering your duty of care.
- Failing appliances that should Pass adding unnecessary replacement costs to your business.
How many clients have received test results being inaccurate hence test results not meeting the Australian Standard?
How many clients are left exposed due to not meeting the Australian Standard?
If the Test Equipment falls out of tolerance by only any more than 5% in any of its testing measurements, it no longer meets the Manufacturers specifications and hence cannot any longer test items to the Australian Standard. It would be like taking your temperature with a faulty thermometer, inaccurate and pointless. Then pressing questions had to be asked:
When did the Test Equipment fall out of tolerance? After 5,000 tests, 10,000 tests?
When developing our process for covering section 7.6 of the Quality Assurance Management System 9001:2008 we were faced with providing a tangible, fully documented and practical solution to these questions. This process had to directly be of benefit to our clients. This we have been able to successfully achieve with Accsure™ an integrated process for Testing and Tagging offered to all clients, at all times and at no additional cost. We believe that this process sets us above other Testing and Tagging companies by providing our clients with Industry Leading Accuracy ensuring that our clients truly receive what they are paying for at no additional cost.
Our Accsure™ process is fully documented. These CSV reports are available online upon request to clients 24/7 so that you can verify that the testing equipment that we use on your site is currently verified as accurate.
Our Accsure™ process is fully traceable to Australian Standards so that you can verify the integral accuracy our CSV process. Nothing has been left to chance. This accuracy then follows through our entire process.