very interesting post paul. I had never thought of corgi that way, but what you say makes sense.
The pretext that the legislation is all about safety isn't quite true is it, it is at least partly about industry protectionism, even if it has only become so at the realisation that there is money to be made in vast quantities by those who pay to be in the club.
I had begun to suspect this recently while trying to find out some real detail about PAT testing (to be precise only the basic tests required for simple portable equipment of the first 3 types - don't worry all the electricians out there I'm not after the arcane secrets of three phase installation wiring - even what a flash test or earth leakage test entails).
The legislation was enacted to allow a proper risk assesment to be made regarding the use of portable electrical equipment.
The one thing that everyone needs to evaluate any risk is a thorough understanding of the nature of that risk.
If this was truly the case, surely the best thing that could possibly be done would be to provide free open access to information that would inform and educate about the risks posed by portable electric equipment and a thorough explanation of how to check for them.
OK i hear all the electricians here saying words to the effect of "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" how true - that is exactly why ALL of the principles, maths, concepts and even just step by step procedures should be made available - to anyone who wants to inform themselves to a level that would enable them to judge the risk.
but the IEE takes a different approach, it attempts to make the quantification of the risk seem like something that is in itself as dangerous as holding a bare live wire in your left hand while turning on the switch with your right, while laying in a bath of salty water.
but it will put you in touch with specialists or sell you a training course.
Now you and I know that a simple visual inspection isnt too hard to understand, that insulation can be tested fairly easily and without too much recourse to ohms law, that earth continuity testing isn't exactly rocket science. and that often functional checks are best done by the operator of the tested equipment itself, after all they understand the equipment's function better than most.
so why not join up the dots by supplying the information that bridges the gap between "nasty dangerous frightening shock" and "equalisation of potential" hell why not even suggest what testing equpment one might need to do these tests, maybe even HOW to do these tests.
Dont get me wrong - I'm not suggesting that everyone ought to go and try making a three phase linear motor, just that It should be common knowledge how to test, for example an extension lead, so that it complies...
the wording of the legislation says that a competent person should carry out the tests - but the acting out of the legislation seems to only make it harder to become competent as this basic information becomes harder for the lay person to access because it is 'valuable'.
Even on boards such as these there is a tendency by some to 'withhold' information on the grounds of safety when someone asks for information that gets too close to part P or some other recent safety legislation.
This strikes me as quite a dangerous situation - that actualy encourages real practical incompetance in favour of certification, which as we all know isn't a guarantee of anything apart from having paid the money and sat through the lecture.
