Australia's Science Forum

hi all
can anyone tell me how often this has to be done in a school situation. I know it is different in industry.
Adrianna

Every year here.

I just found out that portable equipment has to be done every 6 months eg laptops with charges that are used in different class rooms
Lada

We haven't had this done in years....say it is too costly.
I just found a power pack with a tag. It has test date Nov 04 and test due Nov 06.

Our test and tag is done yearly. It may be costly but I believe it has something to do with WHS, safety in the workplace, safety for the students that each school has a duty of care towards and it is also an insurance issue for all schools.

Hello Adrianna,
We test and tag our school equipment yearly and I know the potable lap tops are done 6 monthly. We have maintenance staff authorized to do this and they submit a safety tagging schedule in the WHS file . If you check out the Electrical testing and Tagging safety standard AS/NZS3760:2010 this may be of help to you.
thanks
shaz

From my experience in my outside school life as a a partner in an Electrical contracting firm with my husband, the frequency that an item needs to be tested and tagged depends a lot on the item and the environment that it is used in.
It all relates to The Australian Standard AS/NZS 3760 In service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment
which provides guidance on inspection, testing and tagging methods.

The following pdf is from http://www.abctestandtag.com.au/faq/ind ... artlang=en I am in a Department school and have different items with different dates as to when they are next to be tested.
This testing is done on a departmental contract. My powerpacks/transformers have a 5 year tag, my shredder doesn't need to be tested for 5 years but the the kettle and scales one year.

We get every piece of electrical equipment and power cord done every year... ideally. It's the responsibility of the maintenance department, so if they're having a busy time it might slip by a few months. Or, like this year, their tagging machine could be broken.

thankyou to all this is most helpful