Filling the Safety Gap
When does 100 per cent equal 10 per cent or less? According to Mark Blanchfield, managing director of Epsilon Test Services, this is the ratio being offered by some suppliers of electrical safety testing and the company is lobbying the NICEIC to introduce standards to stop unwitting customers being short changed in this way.
Like most people I expect to be fairly treated and get what I pay for. If something appears to be too good (or too cheap) to be true then it usually is. In the competitive market for electrical safety testing there are constantly ‘special offers’ being made but some look so low that alarm bells have to ring. Seeing some of the offers in the market for cut price testing I have done some detective work to try to establish how companies are able to offer heavily discounted deals. The resulting findings are shocking.
What I have found is that some unscrupulous electrical contractors are misleading clients when it comes to standards of periodic testing. It appears that they are selling clients a 100 per cent test and inspection deal but when the small print is examined on their paperwork it transpires that this merely includes up to 10 per cent insulation resistance testing. 100 per cent, it turns out, only relates to visual inspection not actual electrical test. It all becomes obvious to the trained eye when you see the limitations listed on the certificate supplied.
As any electrician will appreciate, the impact that testing less than 100 per cent circuits could have is dramatic. We aren’t dealing with a marketing survey whereby a ‘representative sample’ can be considered to indicate the view or status of the whole target population. Circuits that run from the same board can be in very different conditions due to degradation over time or inflicted damage. It is entirely possible to find neighbouring circuits where one passes the safety standards and one doesn’t. Given that the cables are hidden within the fabric of the building and visual inspection alone cannot verify their condition, it is critical to test every circuit to identify any wiring that may be unsafe.
An interesting point to consider is how these contractors select the 10 per cent (or less) circuits they electrically test. It’s only personal speculation, but it’s entirely possible that they pick the easiest, nearest, shortest routes. It’s quite possible that the longer or most complex circuits are the most likely to be ignored.
The real problem here is that unwitting customers are being short-changed. For buyers without electrical knowledge or training the difference in these service offerings is easy to miss but it has implications not only in terms of value but, more importantly, for safety standards.
The danger is twofold: It could be the case that the customer doesn’t realise that 100 per cent inspection will mean anything other than 100 per cent testing and therefore wrongly assume that this is what they are buying. Or a client that relies on the expert guidance of their testing supplier could be misguided into believing that the 10% test rate is an adequate and acceptable safe standard. Either way the customer is not receiving an appropriate service.
I have written to the chief executive of the NICEIC and asked that industry standards be set for periodic testing to offer clarity to the market and to stamp out this kind of unethical practice. Epsilon recommends that the standard is set at 100 per cent testing of every circuit because this is comprehensive and safe. If a contractor chooses to sell a service at a reduced level then they should at least be required to make their offer explicit so that buyers can make informed decisions.
The lack of clarity that this kind of unscrupulous practice creates reflects badly on the electrical industry as a whole. With the impending Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Killing Bill due to become law in April 2008, there has never been such an important time for organisations to have robust and reliable safety arrangements. Electrical safety is a key part of that overall duty of care and so there are lots of people that need our professional guidance and services to protect their people and premises. In my opinion we should, as an industry, take that responsibility very seriously and commit to providing the best support possible.
Contractors that offer inferior service at reduced prices also erode the electrical market financially. Like all the respectable suppliers (and by way of pedigree Epsilon has this year been chosen as the supplier to conduct electrical safety testing for the NICEIC itself) we offer a thorough and comprehensive service for extremely competitive prices. These rates don’t compare to the cut price poor service deals described above and these only seek to drive down rates by delivering less than is safe or satisfactory. In my opinion these unscrupulous contractors are putting customers at risk and damaging the reputation of the electrical safety market, whilst at the same time devaluing that market for all other contractors.
The thing that clients may easily mistake is value for money in cut price deals. Companies in our market all quote on a price per circuit and those that aren’t testing all those circuits clearly have greatly reduced costs. When you do the calculations it’s apparent that they are actually operating at higher margins – because of those reduced costs – than those offering a ‘proper’ service.
One thing that isn’t currently clear is the scale of this problem. How many firms cut corners like this? What we have established – and perhaps surprisingly – is that even the larger contractors appear to have adopted this practise.
Another concern is that this may well be only one of many ways that unscrupulous contractors reduce their costs. At Epsilon we have invested heavily in the technology and infrastructure to make us efficient and highly competitive but others may have been more inventive in cutting corners and safety. In a market with constant price pressure it’s easy to believe that other inappropriate short cuts may be being taken.
That’s why we’re calling on the NICEIC to consider this matter. We have also asked that better information to be made available to clients who are unaware of their duty of care responsibilities in terms of electrical safety.
Each year about 1000 accidents at work are reported involving electric shock or burns and around 30 of those are fatal, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). We are constantly campaigning to bring the need for robust and thorough testing to companies and other organisations. That’s why it’s especially galling that some test suppliers take short cuts and compromise the safety message. We sincerely hope that the NICEIC will take steps to improve regulation, set mandatory standards and thereby protect clients from being mislead.
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