Mandatory substances regulations.

Since July 2004 it has become mandatory for all workplaces across the UK to comply with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres regulations (DSEAR). These regulations are concerned with protection against risks from fire, explosion, and similar events

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Some sites have obvious areas that would fall under these regulations. An example would be natural gas being used to fire a boiler or a furnace, which would be considered potentially explosive. Therefore the gas lines and the zones of the site in which these are found would need to comply with DSEAR.

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However, not all areas for compliance are as obvious. For example, the energy released by quenching hot metal in water is considered high enough to be a potential hazard that would come under the remit of DSEAR.

Briefly, the main requirements of DSEAR are to:

* Carry out a risk assessment of any work activities involving dangerous substances.

* Classify places where explosive atmospheres may occur into zones and mark the zones where necessary.

* Provide measures to eliminate or reduce risks as far as is reasonably practicable.

* Provide equipment and procedures to deal with accidents and emergencies.

Compliance with the DSEAR regulations, which are enforced by the HSE, has become a legal obligation since July 2004 for both employers and the self employed.

What to do to comply

Companies may perform an assessment themselves after attending training courses such as the tailored courses delivered by Sira to individual foundries. Alternatively, businesses may prefer assistance from an expert body like Sira to work with them on ensuring compliance. Sira is launching a scheme to provide industry recognised Accredited Competency Certificates.

Sira is a Notified Body and accredited by UKAS for its test and certification activities. It is heavily committed to providing expertise in the development, commercialisation, and support of instrumentation, certification and measurement solutions.

Sira Training, tel: +44 (0)20 8467 2096; fax: +44 (0)1244 681330; e-mail: siratraining@sira.co.uk; www.sira.co.uk