Over the past two years, whilst delivering training around the country with clients and multiple contractors, I have had many discussions about which voltage indicators do and do not comply with UK legislation. Not only that, but also ‘Do I really have to have a dedicated bit of kit for proving dead’, or, the common one from Yorkshire Contractors, ‘How much?! You can fluff, I’m not bloody spending that”. Who says you can’t put a price on safety!
I can honestly say for many years I have been an advocate of saying yes, we should specify an x or y voltage indicator with a proving unit as a dedicated bit of safety equipment for proving dead.
Why? Because it’s proven and complies with GS 38 (max exposed tip of 4mm) & it’s manufactured to BS EN61243 (the most relevant part of GS38) and by using this indicator we have de-risked the use of the equipment as far as possible, it doesn’t need batteries that could potentially give false dead readings due to battery failure and it has a bunch of LED’s (or neon’s) that just work. Quality units that do the job and minimise the risk!
I worked for PLCs and large national businesses that maybe didn’t have to consider the cost quite in as much detail as some of my other electrical contracting colleagues, so taking their feedback on board I went and spent an afternoon with Kewtech, at their Doncaster HQ, wanting primarily to focus on safe isolation equipment. Chris and Andy gave me a run down on so many products it was like being a kit in a sweet shop. They design and manufacture a very impressive range of specialist electrical testing equipment.
Their range of voltage indicators are manufactured with moulded GS38 tips as standard nothing to pull off or put on or loose, with units that range from voltage indication only to hand-held indicators that incorporate non-contact voltage, single pole detection, two pole detection, resistance measurement, phase rotation and open jaw current measurement (great for measuring open PEN issues) all in one. Oh and I forgot, it also has a light built-in and a host of other straightforward but clever features.
It’s clear that Kewtech as a UK company manufacture exclusively for the UK market, and not a multinational company adapting equipment to comply with UK legislation.
