Complying with the ATEK directive

All instrumentation and control equipment used in a potentially explosive atmosphere in Europe PF (including offshore) needs ATEX certification on or before 31 June 2003, or you cannot export it to Europe.

This directive, coupled with the new Protection of Workers in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres

The ATEX directive (94/9/EC), covering electrical and mechanical equipment, replaces the old Explosive Atmospheres and Gassy Mines directive (76/117/EEC) and is intended to bring products covered by the old directive into line with the other, New Approach CE marketing directives. The ATEX directive covers equipment and protective systems used in areas endangered by potential explosive atmospheres created by the presence of flammable gases, vapors, mists, or dusts.

The vast majority of equipment certified before 1994 will not comply with the latest harmonized standards for the ATEX directive. Manufacturers that don't consider the design implications now are liable to be caught out in the very near future. It's imperative before putting your equipment up for certification that you ensure compliance with all the latest relevant harmonized European standards and the essential health and safety requirements of the directive.

Far more equipment will now require certification-mainly mechanical equipment and protective systems. Right now, CEN committees (European committees for standardization) are preparing more than 70 new standards specifically for these types of equipment.

CENELEC (the European committee for electrotechnical standardization) and CEN technical committees are responsible for preparing the harmonized standards. CENELEC has completed the EN50 series that covers electrical products but is still developing and approving standards for mechanical products and protective systems.

HOW DOES IT DIFFER?

The new directive includes nonelectrical equipment, dust atmospheres, requirements for safety-related devices (flame arrestors and suppression systems) and safe area equipment, additional quality system requirements, and the need to produce a technical file.

The new directive also includes equipment and safety or control devices installed outside the potentially explosive area but having an explosion protection function. Equipment can include electric motors, compressors, diesel engines, lighting fittings, control and communication devices, and monitoring and detection equipment.

It excludes medical devices; products for use in the presence of explosives; products for domestic use, sea-going vessels, and mobile offshore units; military equipment; personal protective equipment covered by directive 89/686/EEC; and means of transport by air or on road or rail or water networks.

PRODUCT CATEGORIES

You'll need to categorize your products by the level of protection they offer against the risk of becoming a potential source of ignition in an explosive atmosphere.The first category group, mining, includes Ml (high integrity of protection for mining equipment with two fault conditions) and M2 (reliability concept of protection for mining equipment).The second equipment group (nonmining) includes CAT 1 (Zone 0): still safe with two faults; CAT 2 (Zone 1): increased safety under abnormal operating conditions; and CAT 3 (Zone 2): equipment appropriate in normal operating conditions.

The marking of the equipment with the category will help the end user select equipment. It identifies the zone in which it can safely be installed-a major improvement over the old, cryptic marking system that listed only the protection concepts used in the equipment design.With the old marking, the user had to be familiar with all eight recognized protection concepts and know which was suitable for a particular type of zone.

The ATEX-notified bodies issue product manufacturer quality modules, which depend on the manufacturer to achieve a satisfactory level of quality control. The notified body performs an external audit to determine the level of quality. An audit conducted on behalf of the European notified body is mandatory for ATEX certification. Most bodies won't issue an ATEX certificate unless you have the quality module in place. The ATEX quality module is now valid for one to three years and is covered by European Standard EN 13980.