Q: I have a question regarding safety switches versus test and tag. We have just had a full electrical inspection of our workplace conducted by a qualified electrician. Based on his recommendations we have installed a lot more safety switches and every socket in our workplace now is covered by a safety switch.

Must we continue to conduct a 6-monthly test and tag of our electrical equipment now that we have full RCD protection? A regulatory reference would be very helpful to discuss the outcome of this with my management team.

A: Please refer to the Code of Practice – Managing Electrical Risks in the Workplace.

The code sets out how to assess whether your workplace is a hostile operating environment, which impacts on how frequently you will need to test and tag electrical equipment in the workplace.

You can find further commentary on the frequency of inspecting and testing electrical equipment in the chapter Electrical Safety in the Health & Safety Handbook.

Please note: The answer is correct at the time of publishing. Be aware that laws may change over time. Refer to Electrical safety for current advice.