ATEX Inspection Services

ATEX is a Law that came into force in 2003. It places responsibility on employers to eliminate or control the risks arising from potentially explosive atmospheres and to ensure they are safe places of work for employees. Employers must also be able to demonstrate that the overall explosion protection safety measures have been considered and implemented and must be able to provide evidence of this.

To verify compliance, an inspection is required under IEC 60079-17 (The inspections of electrical installations in hazardous area) and we specialise in these inspections using only experienced, COMPEX certified inspectors.

Our ATEX inspections will verify that all installed electrical equipment is certified and suitable for the zone in which it is installed, fit for purpose and safe to use in the presence of a flammable atmosphere and we will provide written documentation and inspection reports to verify this.

Other actions that must be taken to comply with ATEX include instituting a permit to work system, hazardous area awareness training for all personnel who work in the hazardous areas, providing anti-static clothing, displaying ATEX warning signs, producing an explosion protection document and an Ex register and all these actions will all be outlined in our final report of compliance along with improvement measure if necessary.

Atex Requirements

An employers obligations under ATEX 137 are clear:

Prevent the formation of explosive atmospheres in the workplace or, avoid the ignition of explosive atmospheres and control the effects of an explosion.
Conduct a risk assessment covering the likelihood of explosive atmospheres occurring and their persistence, the likelihood of a source of ignition and the effect of ignition on plant, personnel and the environment.
Classify the areas where potentially explosive atmospheres may occur into zones and produce hazardous area classification drawings details the zones and their extent. There are 3 ATEX zones.
- zone 0 is a place where an explosive atmosphere is present continuously or for long periods
- zone 1 is a place where an explosive atmosphere is likely to occur in normal operation
- zone 2 is a place where an explosive atmosphere is not likely to occur but if it does it will exist only for a short period
Once the zones have been identified, select ATEX compliant equipment suitably for the zone.
Institute a safe system of working in hazardous area through a permit to work system
Institute hazardous area awareness training for all personnel who work in the hazardous areas including contractors (this is a requirement often overlooked leading to companies actually breaking the Law without knowing it)
Providing anti-static clothing to workers
Mark hazardous areas with "Ex" warning signs at every entrance (also often overlooked)
Maintain an explosion protection document (EPD) and an Ex register which is a detailed database of all installed ATEX equipment.

The EPD should include risk assessment, area classification, the inspection strategy, inspection records, details of staff hazardous area training and the permit to work system.

ATEX 137 states that all necessary measures must be taken to ensure that the workplace, work equipment and any associated connecting devices made available to workers have been designed, constructed, assembled and installed, and are maintained and operated in such a way as to minimise the risk of an explosion.

We know explosions can cause loss of life and serious injury as well as significant and catastrophic damage to plant and the environment and preventing the release of flammable substances and preventing active sources of ignition are two ways of reducing the risk. The correct application of ATEX can greatly reduce this risk and provide for a safer workplace for employees.