A little story about regulation and certification.
Many years ago as the "electronics expert" and general all-round “good egg” in the Med Eng Dept. I was approached by the Facilities Director (our boss at the time) to set up the Trust’s PAT testing regime.
Obviously I found out as much as I could discussed at length all the ins and outs with the Works Electricians who would be doing the testing, test equipment manufacturers and software suppliers.
Then I actually did the job for a short time to ensure the processes worked.
Apart from an electrician almost shutting the kitchens because every other item failed the tests, everything went well.
The Local Tech College contacted me and I was questioned over all the various aspects of the process which I happily answered in the interest of cooperation etc.
Recently I was talking to a gentleman who runs a small business PAT testing, he told me that a certificate proving you had received training was now required before you could do this type of work. I said “oh where did you get your training”, his reply was “at the Local Tech”.
Therefore if I wanted to take up PAT testing I would have to get a certificate from a place that based a lot of the course on what I had told them some years earlier. (And no I do not want to do PAT testing I get bored easily).
Lee
