How Safe is Your Gym?

The pursuit of physical fitness is now an integrated part of western society. Gyms, health clubs and fitness centres are cropping up on seemingly every street corner in order to cater for our insatiable appetite for fitness. In my last article I discussed the potential risk of infection from regularly using a public gym or fitness centre. Infections such as athletes foot and other fungal infections are easily treatable, however more serious and potentially life threatening infections such as MRSA and Legionella can also be contracted in your local health club. In this article I’m going to highlight the risk of electric shock as gym equipment becomes more mechanised and computerised, and due to its constant daily battering, it is essential that such equipment undergoes regular portable appliance testing.

There are two main types of exercise equipment found in most gyms and fitness centres; being 'resistance' and 'cardio' machines. Resistance machines more often than not involve the lifting of weights using your arms, legs, back or shoulders via a series of cables and pulleys. They seldom involve any electrical assistance yet occasionally do feature electronic devices to monitor ones progress through a training session. Cardio machines on the other hand very often use electrical assistance such as the rolling road of a treadmill as well as electronic devices designed to monitor performance and to keep track of virtual distances, heart-rate, pulse, calories burnt and so on.

With such equipment getting heavy use day-in day-out it's essential for the person responsible for the safe operation of said equipment to make sure it is regularly PAT tested for safety. PAT testing, or Portable Appliance Testing is where 'portable' electrical equipment used in public places such as schools, hospitals, libraries and the workplace need to be regularly tested and deemed safe for continued use. In a nutshell, 'portable' means anything which relies on mains electricity and is not bolted to the floor; so anything from a hair dryer to an electric oven will require regular PAT testing.

The regularity between portable appliance testing depends on the risk that an appliance will develop a fault; so any electrical equipment which gets regular 'physical' use and/or is moved frequently will require PAT testing more frequently than a fridge for example, which remains stationary whilst only its door is opened and closed. In a busy gym or fitness centre, some exercise equipment will receive more of a daily battering than others and should it use mains electricity then it will need to be PAT tested on a regular basis in order to ensure it is safe to use by both your staff and the members of the public.