JHP Electrical – Schools Electrical Work
Electrical Regulations in Schools:
Electrical equipment is found in every school and work with electrical apparatus is a common part of many lessons. While accidents involving electricity are fortunately rare, care must always be taken to ensure the safety of those working with or around electrical appliances.
The use, inspection, maintenance and repair of electrical equipment and installations in schools and colleges is legally required to be managed effectively. JHP Electrical are qualified to carry out all Schools Electrical Work requirements.
The Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 impose general duties on employers to ensure the health and safety of employees and others. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 also set out specific requirements on electrical safety. All of these apply in schools in the same way as all other workplaces.
These regulations make it clear that the maintenance and repair of electrical equipment must be carried out by competent persons under a planned programme of work.
With regards to Electrical Safety in Educational Establishments, The Health and Safety Executive advises the following:
- An inventory of all electrical equipment is prepared, which may be taken room-by-room or department-by-department.
- The inventory is periodically updated by a competent person who should examine the equipment. Obsolete, redundant or defective equipment should be taken out of service and be properly repaired or disposed of. If the latter, they should be removed from the inventory.
- Fixed electrical installations should be inspected and tested by a competent person at least every five years. More frequent inspections will be necessary when installations are subject to damage or abuse.
- A test certificate confirming the date and results of the inspection and test should be prepared - a copy of it should be retained by the school or college.
- All electrical equipment including socket outlets and other fittings such as lights, should be chosen bearing in mind the use and abuse to which they may be subjected. Remember, items which are close to where pupils/students sit may be interfered with.
- Temporary systems, such as stage lighting, should be tested and inspected initially and at least every three months thereafter.
- Portable appliances, such as drills, saws and irons should be routinely inspected and tested and a register be kept. Before the start of each term, the equipment should be visually inspected and any defects rectified.
How can we help?
We currently work for a number of schools within Hertfordshire, Middlesex, London and Hillingdon. This includes primary, junior and secondary schools. Private and state schools.
We are approved contractors and provide reactive maintenance, this can be something small like repairing a car park light to a more recent job which was to attend a school which had lost power in the kitchen prior to lunchtime. We fixed this issue within an hour and the children were provided with their lunch on time.
We arrange regular periodic inspections. These check the condition of an existing installation (fixed wiring) against the UK standard for electrical safety. After inspection, we will provide an Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) containing details of the inspection and testing undertaken, the outcome plus recommendations as to what remedial action (if any) is required, and a declaration of whether or not the installation is safe for continued use. The maximum period recommended between the initial inspection (when the electrical installation was first put into service) and the first periodic inspection is 5 years and then at least every 5 years.
Examples of our work include installing power, benching and data for a new ICT suite within a school, upgrading all distributions boards, providing an electrical supply for new kitchen equipment.
We work alongside Facilities Managers and their teams and advise them on electrical standards, we don’t want to step on anyone’s toes and are happy to work as an advisory role or more hands on if required.
We appreciate that it may not be feasible to work within a school during the day and are happy to work evenings, weekends and try to keep the school holidays available for our school clients who tend to book in the EICR’s and remedial work during this time.
We are an Approved member of the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contractors - NICEIC. It's the industry standards body and they inspect us very thoroughly every year, so you can be sure that every job we do is to the highest standards.
We are also members of Construction Line, Trust Mark and Safe contractor. All of our employees are CRB checked and ECS approved and we thoroughly risk assess every job.
We have £10 million cover employers liability insurance, £5 million cover for public and products liability and £1 million for professional indemnity.