Test and tag for workplaces and work sites

Extension leads get driven over, power tools get dropped, and the jug in the smoko room has been there longer than anyone can remember. Test and tag is a regular check that the portable electrical equipment your people use every day is still safe to plug in. Bream Bay Electrical tests and tags equipment for businesses, trades and work sites around Whangarei, Ruakaka, Marsden Point and the wider Bream Bay area.

What test and tag involves

Each item is checked in two stages. The first is a close visual inspection, looking for damaged or taped-up leads, cracked plugs and casings, bent pins, exposed conductors and signs of overheating. The second is an electrical test with a portable appliance tester. Depending on how the item is built, that checks the earth connection and the insulation, and for extension leads that the wiring is the right way round.

An item that passes is fitted with a durable tag recording when it was tested and who tested it. An item that fails is taken out of service and clearly marked, so nobody plugs it back in by mistake.

What gets tested

Broadly, anything with a flexible lead and a plug. That usually includes:

• Power tools and battery chargers
• Extension leads and power boards
• Portable RCDs
• Jugs, toasters, microwaves and fridges
• Computers, monitors and office equipment
• Heaters, fans and vacuum cleaners
• Workshop and cleaning equipment
• Portable work lights

Is test and tag a legal requirement?

Not in itself. WorkSafe's guidance is that testing and tagging is not mandatory. What the law does require is that electrical equipment at work is electrically safe and kept in a safe condition, and it is up to each business to decide how it shows that. Testing and tagging to AS/NZS 3760:2022, the joint Australian and New Zealand standard for in-service safety inspection and testing of electrical equipment and RCDs, is a recognised way to do it. Under regulation 26 of the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010, an appliance or lead used by your employees or contractors is deemed to be electrically safe if it has a current tag issued in accordance with that standard.

A tag is a snapshot. It records that the item was safe on the day it was tested, not that it will stay that way. It is still important to look over leads, plugs and tools before you use them, and some equipment still needs RCD protection whether it is tagged or not, for example when it is used outside in the damp.

How often equipment should be tested

That depends on the equipment and where it is used. Tools and leads on a building site, outdoors and in the wet, have a much harder life than a computer under a desk, so they need checking far more often. Electrical equipment on construction and demolition sites comes under its own standard, AS/NZS 3012. Tell us what you have and how it is used, and we will suggest a retest schedule to suit.

Why use an electrical contractor

The person doing the testing has to have the knowledge and skills to do it correctly, but does not have to be a registered electrical worker. Repairs are different: only a registered electrical worker can fix the problems that testing turns up. When an electrical contractor does your test and tag, a fault that is found can be looked at by an electrician, who can tell you what caused it and whether it points to something bigger, such as a damaged socket outlet or a circuit with no RCD protection. If it does, our maintenance and fault finding service can deal with it.

Test and tag on commercial and industrial sites

We regularly work inside operational plants, where permits to work, isolations and site inductions are part of every job. We are used to those requirements, so testing for a commercial business or on an industrial site can be planned around production and shifts instead of getting in the way of them. Many sites ask to see current tags before equipment is allowed through the gate, so it pays to have your gear tested before the job starts.