Electrical Safety

Any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained in a safe condition.

All users of equipment must perform basic visual checks on electrical equipment prior to use to ensure there is no damage to plugs, cabling or equipment casings. Any issues should be reported as a fault and the equipment taken out of service.

Equipment should be appropriately fused.

Fixed Electrical Supplies

Summerhall are responsible for the safety of the fixed electrical installation and this must not be modified by members.

Members should note that Summerhall circuits are not protected by RCDs and plug-in type RCDs should be used where necessary.

Any damage to the fixed electrical supplies should be immediately reported to the Directors who will inform Summerhall management.

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

PAT testing will be carried out on a regular basis on electrical equipment in the Hacklab. The schedule will be agreed by the directors based on risk assessment and industry guidance.

PAT testing may be carried out by trained members in line with the [PAT Testing Code of Practice.](pattestcop.md) Records must be kept of these tests. Failed equipment should be labelled and taken out of service for repair or replacement.

Any individuals bringing equipment into the lab for use on a regular basis should seek to have it PAT tested.

Counterfeit, Non CE Compliant and Home Built Equipment

There is a high risk from equipment that fails to meet European safety standards. This may be equipment ordered from eBay and AliExpress but also includes some items such as low cost phone chargers which are often imported with fake compliance certificates. Home built equipment also poses a high risk.

Counterfeit equipment should not be used in the Hacklab. It can often be identified by spelling mistakes or incorrect symbols on the device. Plugs may not be of the correct dimensions and fuses incorrectly manufactured in these cases.

Home built and other high risk equipment should be carefully checked and must be PAT tested before general use by members.

Extensions and Adaptors

Only fused multi way extensions connected to a wall socket via a cable may be used. These must not be daisy chained. Long extensions should be secured to prevent wear and not become a trip hazard.

Live Working

It is recognised that there will be circumstances where it will be necessary and justifiable for work to proceed either on or near to exposed live conductors, such as terminals, switches and controllers, etc. This must be fully risk assessed and those carrying out such work deemed competent to do so. Please see [Live Working Code of Practice](liveworking.md) for details.

Faulty Equipment and Equipment Repairs

All faulty equipment should be taken out of service and labelled to prevent use by others. A notification should also be made on the members email list.

Hacklab members should only attempt to repair equipment if competent to do so and should ensure that equipment is fully tested including a PAT test before returning to service.

Equipment must be deenergised for repair and locked out where necessary. Live working procedures should be followed if live testing is necessary. RCDs must be used when testing functionality of repaired equipment.