ATEX

Danish businesses must carry out a special assessment of the risk of explosions in the workplace – a so-called ATEX-APV. ATEX stands for ‘ATmosphère EXplosive’.

 

The Occupational Health and Safety Committee at the University of Copenhagen has laid down the following ATEX policy:

 

At the University of Copenhagen, work must be planned and the workplace laid out to prevent or limit the formation of explosive atmospheres as much as possible.

If you can answer YES to any of the questions below, you must assess the risk of explosion, cf. the ATEX directive.

 

• Do you use combustible gases such as methylene, acetylene or bottled gas?
• Do you use flammable liquids with a flash point of less than 30°C such as acetone or ethanol (96% or 70%)?
• Does any heating of flammable substances take place?
• In connection with the work process, is free dust used or created, causing a considerable reduction in visibility?

In the process, it is important to remember that for an explosion to happen, all three of the following factors must be present:

 

• Flammable material in the form of gases, vapours and other volatile compounds
• Oxygen
• A source of ignition, for example a spark from a lamp in a fridge

The purpose of ATEX assessments is to identify, prevent, classify and mark explosive areas so as to reduce the risk of explosion by removing several of the above parameters:

 

• Removing the source of ignition (spark-proofing, static electricity)
• Removing the flammable substance (substituting, reducing volumes, encapsulating, extracting)
• Preparing procedures for normal operations and in case of possible breakdowns

If you are in doubt as to whether your work must be assessed according to the ATEX directive, you must contact your local occupational health and safety group.