ATEX Directive

Will your company be ready for the ATEX Directive?

If your response to that question was ‘What is it?’ you are not alone. Yet, it is something that the entire industry needs to wake up to. And quickly.

Designed to regulate the use of equipment in potentially explosive atmospheres, two ATEX Directives will become law throughout the EU from July next year. And this time, it is not just manufacturers who must comply. Any company that employs staff in potentially explosive atmospheres must take specific steps to protect them.

Many companies are unaware of the impending legislation, perhaps because it has received little publicity. Yet the time to start thinking about it is now, so that your company is not caught out come July 2003.

Potentially explosive atmospheres are found in many areas of industry, from mines and the chemical, oil and gas, and pharmaceuticals industries, to plants handling cereal, animal feed, paper, wood and coal. All these have the potential to produce gas, dust or fumes which can be ignited by a spark or flame.

To protect against these hazards, the EU has introduced ATEX Directive 94/9/EC, also known as ATEX 100, which gives the safety requirements to be fulfilled by all equipment, both electrical and non-electrical, installed anywhere in hazardous areas within the EU. Voluntary since 1994, from 1 July 2003, the requirements of the Directive will be mandatory.

To qualify for ATEX approval, manufacturers must show their products incorporate measures to prevent the ignition of unavoidable explosive atmospheres.

The Directive covers any electrical or mechanical product that contains or constitutes a potential ignition source and which requires a special design or installation procedure to prevent starting an explosion.

Equipment regulated includes control and communication devices and monitoring and detection equipment. It also includes safety or control devices installed outside hazardous areas that have an explosion protection function, such as pressure-relief panels and fast-acting shutoff valves.

Under the ATEX Directive, equipment is designated by the type of potentially explosive atmosphere in which the equipment may be used – Group 1 for underground mines and Group 2 for surface industries.

In Group 2 ATEX also defines categories of equipment, specified by their protection characteristics. It also designates the hazardous location zones they can be used in - zones 0, 1 and 2 for gases, vapours and mists and zones 20, 21 and 22 for dusts.

A table showing the zones and the category of equipment that can be used in them is shown in figure 1.

Category	Degree of Safety	Design Requirement	Application	Expected Zone of Use
1	Very high level of safety	Two independent means of protection or safe with two separate faults	Where explosive atmospheres are present continuously or for lengthy periods	Zone 0 Zone 20
2	High level of safety	Safe with frequently occurring disturbances or with one operating fault	Where explosive atmospheres are likely to occur	Zone 1 Zone 21
3	Normal level of safety	Safe in normal operation	Where explosive atmospheres are likely to occur infrequently and be of short duration	Zone 2 Zone 22

Meeting the Directive

Products that meet the requirements of the ATEX Directive are marked by the manufacturer with the CE mark and the Ex Mark. The following information is also required:

• Name and address of manufacturer
• Designation of series or type
• Serial number, if any
• Year of construction
• Ex symbol, followed by the equipment group and category. For equipment Group II the letters G and/or D for type of atmosphere (gases, vapours, mists/dusts)
• For equipment Group II, the symbol for the temperature class or the maximum surface temperature, or both
• EEx symbol, followed by the symbol for the type(s) of protection used and the identity of gas or gas group covered
• The identity of the notified body involved at the certification stage and the certificate number
• Any additional marking required for the type of protection concerned

For the ATEX Directive, the CE Marking must appear prominently on each item of equipment or each protective system. The CE Marking must not appear on components which do not themselves comply with all relevant requirements but which must be combined with other parts in order to comply.

Using a Notified Body

If a product is designed for use in zones 0 and 1 or 20 and 21, the manufacturer must use a European Notified Body for testing and certification, usually a company that specialises in testing industrial equipment.

When applying to the notified body, the manufacturer must supply his name and address, a written statement that the application has not been lodged with any other notified body and a number of technical drawings and documents detailing the product and any tests performed on it.

The notified body examines and tests the product to confirm it meets the standard and issues an EC-type examination certificate to the manufacturer, entitling him to display the CE mark on the product as proof of compliance. A new feature of the ATEX Directive is that the manufacturer now also needs a quality system in place that must be checked by the Notified Body.

For equipment that will be used only in zone 2 or 22 environments where hazards are less common, the ATEX Directive allows manufacturers to self-certify products, although third-party certification is often preferred.

Employers Held Liable

For the first time, employers as well as manufacturers will have a legal duty to protect their staff from the dangers of explosive atmospheres. A related Directive, known as the Worker Protection Directive, or ATEX 137, will also come into force in July next year.

Employers’ obligations include assessing the site’s Sources of Hazard and likelihood of sources of ignition, classification of the area into zones and marking all points of entry, as well as producing and maintaining documentation.

The main obligations on employers are to:

• Prepare an explosion protection document (EPD)
• Classify the workplace into Zones where applicable
• Select ATEX 100a products according to Zone
• Identify, using warning signs, locations where explosive atmospheres may occur

Essentially, the employer is required to take all reasonable measures to prevent the formation of an explosive atmosphere in the workplace. Where this is not possible, measures must be taken to avoid the ignition of any potentially explosive atmosphere. In addition, the effects of any explosion must be minimised in such a way that workers are not put at risk.

Any measures taken must be reviewed regularly, particularly when any significant changes are made to the hazardous area workplace.

The employer must also carry out a risk assessment of risks arising specifically from explosive atmospheres and produce an Explosion Protection Document that demonstrates that explosion risks have been assessed.

Compliance is mandatory from 1 July 2003 for new installations, or where existing installations have an element of risk, and from 1 July 2006 for existing installations where there is no risk.

Keep It Legal

In the UK, the maximum penalty for the supply of non-compliant machinery is three months imprisonment and/or a £5,000 fine. The regulations also allow the authorities to force manufacturers to recall or replace faulty products, potentially a far greater penalty.

Operators in particular should remember that any incident which involves injury or damage will fall within the scope of legislation such as The Health and Safety at Work Act, which provides for much higher penalties than those under the Machinery Safety Regulations.

Most manufacturers of equipment that is used in explosive atmospheres are already aware of the new regulations and are taking steps to get their products certified to the new standard. Operators of power plant need to be sure they are also well prepared, so that their facilities continue to meet legal safety standards after July 2003.