Overview
Relocatable power taps or similar devices are not UL or FM approved, or are not used solely for low power applications.
Relocatable power taps, power strips, surge protectors, and transient voltage surge suppressors must be marked with a UL- or FM- approval logo and be equipped with the proper elements as approved by the certifying company. They also must be in good condition with no obvious damage and the grounding prong intact. They should have a design feature that protects against over-current (either a fuse or breaker, which is indicated with a reset button).
These taps were designed to be used only for low-power equipment and may present an overload to the circuit as demonstrated in the line drawing Exhibit B. Examples of lab-specific equipment that would NOT be considered low power would include anything with a heating element inside of it such as ovens, water baths, thermocyclers, incubators, hot plates and other equipment such as microwaves, vortexers, benchtop centrifuges, electrophoresis power supply, etc.
A copy of some lab examples may be found in the Safety & Compliance Survey Resources folder: H:Safety & Compliance Survey Resources/ELE07 Lab equipment cheat sheet (attachment online here). Other equipment that would also fall into this category would include coffee or tea pots, refrigerators, space heaters, toasters, motor driven equipment, etc. Acceptable low power equipment would be computers, their related-accessories, audio and video equipment. It is recommended that only up to 80% of the rated amps for a power strip is used. Example: No more than 12 amps would be plugged into a power strip that is rated for 15 amps.
The document ELE07 Calculating Amperage located here and at H:Safety & Compliance Survey Resources provides a formula for calculating amperage, including a formula and an example.