Thank you to everyone who replied to my recent posting about allowing
customers to plug their laptops into library power sockets. The response
was varied and helpful.
The reaction from the majority of you was that it is a nonsense to use the
Electricity at Work regulations argument to prevent us allowing customers
to plug in their laptops, and many of you pointed out that most trains,
many hotel rooms etc. now offer this facility to their customers.
Some of you are already offering this facility to your users. 8 of the
authorities who replied allow their customers to plug in (though 3 of these
require the customer to have a PAT certificate for their laptop). In
addition to this some of you reported other libraries and archives you are
aware of where they can be plugged in. The list includes (but is not
limited to): Gwynedd, Bexley, Darlington, Northumberland, Worthing, West
Sussex, Birmingham, Lincoln, Croydon, Lambeth Archives Department, the
British Library and the National Archives at Kew.
2 respondents have so far been unable to persuade their electricians to
budge on this.
The main piece of advice I will take forward is that if circuit breakers
are in place there should be very little risk of damaging electricity
circuits or wiring, and that laptops actually use very little electricity
anyway.
Armed with all these useful examples of precedent from other library
services I will try again – wish me luck!
Maia Daguerre
Information Services Manager
City of York Libraries
On Tue, 24 May 2005 17:53:42 +0100, Maia Daguerre
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I am revisiting the task of persuading our Corporate electricians to allow
>us to offer plug sockets for customers to plug in their laptops when
>working in the Reference library. The result of the previous discussion
>we had with them about this was that to do so would be in breach of
>Electricity at Work Regulations (reg 4(2)) and that we would be risking
>criminal proceedings if anyone was injured or electricuted. Before I brace
>myself and try again I would like to arm myself with some examples of other
>authorities who offer this service. Can you help?
>
>(I will summarise responses for the list)
>
>Maia Daguerre
>Information Services Manager
>City of York Libraries
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