Electric safety for appliances

[Aspergers_Aspie]

In Scotland, UK. Years ago, before I could use anything electric like my phone charger in a homeless hostel I had to wait for it getting tested for electrical safety. But why do hotels in Scotland allow guests to stay several nights without this? Could anyone be at fault.

 

[Crossbreed]

Damaged electronics can ruin their system.

 

[Nervous Rex]

My guess is that one tests because they have to, and the other doesn't because they haven't had to.

A hostel serves a lower-income base and has probably had enough people bring in faulty electronics that they decided to check everything before allowing it, to prevent problems in the future. A hostel may also run on a very small budget, so they may not have a lot of safeguards built into their electrical system. Also, if something does go wrong, it is probably very difficult to get the guest to pay for the repairs. All this means that the hostel benefits a lot more from checking beforehand than it does from just letting things go and fixing it afterward.

A hotel serves a higher-income base. That means people bringing in more reliable equipment and it also means the hotel is probably wired so that faulty equipment only affects one room. They also have a credit card on file for each guest, so if a guest's equipment blows a fuse, they will charge the guest. Lastly, it would probably irritate the guests to have to test all their appliances before being allowed into the room. All this means that the hotel doesn't have much incentive to check appliances beforehand and can easily deal with the result of an incident afterward.

A hotel and a hostel operate very differently - what a difference one 's' makes!

 

[maycontainthunder]

There are horror stories out there of things catching fire because of a defect. Testing doesn't entirely remove the risk only minimises it. The main two things that will cause issue are fake electronics and dodgy wiring. The former can be mitigated by sticking to branded items from reputable sources finances permitting. As for the latter... I have seen some seriously dodgy wiring on machines Dad bought in; bits of random wire spliced together with poor or severely degraded insulation... or no insulation. All had to be re-wired before sale.

 

[Misery]

Hotels aren’t necessarily high quality places. Some are. Some aren’t. And even the good ones can have lazy staff or uncaring managers.

But also they usually can’t really “enforce” much, aside from the no-smoking thing (because their alarms would flip out). As a rule they have no bloody idea what a customer brings with them or does in their rooms.

That’s for electronics that the customer brings with them. But as for the devices that are already in the room, hotel property? Do they maintain those properly? Ye gods, no! Most are not checked or maintained… even at “better” hotels. The bloody AC units are usually proof of that. As someone who has stayed in a bazillion hotels of all quality levels, it’s very common that things in the rooms dont work quite right… even if it’s a “deluxe” room.

Also, dont underestimate the sheer complexity of a major hotel. I saw the “back” space in a big Hyatt, once… the place that customers are not allowed to enter. But I was taken through there while being helped with luggage. I tell ya: It’s one freaking surreal place. And the complexity of what is in that enormous area is pretty nuts. There’s NO FREAKING WAY they can keep everything running at max efficiency and such in a big hotel like that. Not with that lunacy at the heart of it.

EDIT: Other things dont necessarily function quite right either. How many times have I seen showers that spray a bit in some random direction? And then there was the time the bathroom “broke”… or something. I got woken up during the middle of my sleep period to find one of the managers at my door. A plumbing issue had been traced to my room. And by “plumbing issue” I mean “water is coming through the ceiling in one of the panel rooms. No choice but to transfer to a different room, because it’d ruin half the bloody hotel if allowed to remain that way.

 

[Judge]

In Scotland, UK. Years ago, before I could use anything electric like my phone charger in a homeless hostel I had to wait for it getting tested for electrical safety. But why do hotels in Scotland allow guests to stay several nights without this? Could anyone be at fault.

Such considerations often come down to actuarial analysis of the overall loss history of such exposures. Which usually become more restrictive with time and upgraded standards of safety.

Which may reflect over time that paying guests in a hotel are more likely to be responsible about their own property and their host as opposed to a homeless shelter. Not to mention the income a hotel generates in comparison. Similar to underwriting considerations pertinent to a church that solely serves parishioners versus a church that feeds and/or houses the homeless. Indicative of a higher exposure to various perils and morale hazard considerations that insurance underwriters will either accept or decline.

Such decisions are not about what is fair or equitable, but purely about hazards and exposures and whether or not a higher premium is warranted. Those which are considered acceptable, and those which may be elevated beyond corporate underwriting rules and standards.

As a former underwriter I've insured numerous hotels and churches. However our company's underwriting rules prohibited writing homeless shelters based on a broad industry-wide loss analysis.

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

What I really don't like is when sometimes at around 10.30 am or so when your check-out time is up to 11am, there is knocking on your room door and they say housekeeping.

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

Two days ago at the autism drop in I attend, the microwave failed the PAT test and a sign was put up saying do not use. What's to stop a potential electrical fault in a service user's microwave in their home

 

[maycontainthunder]

Two days ago at the autism drop in I attend, the microwave failed the PAT test and a sign was put up saying do not use. What's to stop a potential electrical fault in a service user's microwave in their home

You are reliant on the build quality. Some things run for years with no issue then abruptly die expensively. Others just about last the warranty period. It's pot luck which it is.