Safety
The scheme for certification of Service Facilities (in the main, motor repair workshops) continues to have great support from a number of oil majors who are concerned that they need an independent assurance that the workshops they are trusting to get their production up and running again actually know how to do the job safely, so as not to increase the risk of explosions.
The newest scheme is for the certification of individual Personnel Competence. This is applicable to all those engaged in the design, installation, inspection and maintenance of a plant where hazardous areas may exist. Like the Product Certification Scheme, it is starting slowly, but we are just beginning to see an upsurge as the scheme becomes better known.
The purpose of the IECEx Certificate of Personnel Competence is to give a portable qualification that allows any prospective employer to have confidence in the basic competence of the individual, independent of the particular site on which the individual will be working. As with all IECEx Certification, a copy of every certificate is available for checking from the IECEx web site and, in this case, provides a photograph of the certified person, thus minimising the chance of impersonation. Essential information from the certificate is also provided in credit card sized format, to provide immediate identification regarding the individual.
So what distinguishes the IECEx Scheme from others that may be available?
The first point to make is that the scheme, itself, does not involve any training activity. Training can be obtained from any source, and the effectiveness of that training is independently verified within the scheme. But training is only a partial contribution to the competence of an individual. It is equally important that the individual has the minimum level of intellectual ability in relation to the tasks being undertaken and can apply the information from a training course to new situations that are met in the workplace. There are separately specified requirements in some of the units according to whether the individual is working as an Operative or as a Responsible Person.
Other qualifications, such as relating to prior and continuing working as a general electrician, are also relevant for some of the units. Each unit has a number of pre-requisites specified, so that applicants to the scheme know exactly what they should have achieved before presenting themselves for examination.
A record of work experience in the relevant field must be submitted, along with the names of referees who can testify to the accuracy of the record. Checking of all the submitted records (training and academic, as well as direct work related), on a random basis, is a fundamental part of the scheme.
When it comes to the examination, this is tailored directly to the specified field of activity of the individual within each of the units of competence. An instrument engineer will not have to answer questions on the installation and protection of high voltage motors, or vice versa. Question selection can be limited based on protection type, equipment type or supply voltage, and the limitation is specified in the certificate.
The basis of the examinations is the information given in the fundamental “User” standards in the IEC 60079 series. Parts 10-1 and 10-2 relate to area classification. Part 14 is for selection and installation of equipment. Part 17 covers inspection and maintenance. Part 19 – Overhaul and Repair – is more specialised and applies to Unit Ex 005 only.
If specifically requested, additional questions can be included relating to industry codes such as IP 15, and the certificate endorsed accordingly, but under no circumstances can a local industry code be used as a substitute for knowledge of the universally applicable IEC standards.
The IECEx Units of Competence Unit Ex 001 Apply basic principles of protection in explosive atmospheres Unit Ex 002 Perform classification of hazardous areas Unit Ex 003 Install explosion-protected equipment and wiring systems Unit Ex 004 Maintain equipment in explosive atmospheres Unit Ex 005 Overhaul and repair of explosion-protected equipment Unit Ex 006 Test electrical installations in or associated with explosive atmospheres
Unit Ex 007 Perform visual and close inspection of electrical installations in or associated with explosive atmospheres
Unit Ex 008 Perform detailed inspection of electrical installations in or associated with explosive atmospheres
Unit Ex 009 Design electrical installations in or associated with explosive atmospheres
Unit Ex 010 Perform audit inspection of electrical installations in or associated with explosive atmospheres
As with any scheme of this nature, continual monitoring is part of the process. There is a formal surveillance review (requiring updating of work-related records) at eighteen months, plus a reassessment at the three year period. If the claimed competence has not been used during that three year period, a full requalification is required before it can be reinstated in the certificate.
My own company, Baseefa, has followed the path of using a secure web site to hold all the information and this allows the candidates to build their evidence files on-line and to maintain up to date records relevant to the use of the individual competence elements. There need be no head scratching trying to put together an evidence file at the relevant surveillance and reassessment periods as it is already assembled.
There is a lot of information on the IECEx web site, including a guidance document (IECEx 05A) that can be downloaded from the publications section of
www.iecex.com. Full details of the Competence Units and their pre-requisites are in Operational Document OD 504, available in the same place.
About the Author
Ron Sinclair has been active in the certification of equipment for use in explosive atmospheres for over 35 years. Previously a designer of large electrical machines, he has developed expertise in all types of Ex protection while working for the UK Health and Safety Executive’s Baseefa and EECS. When HSE decided to terminate the certification activity in 2001, Ron led the staff into the creation of a re-formed Baseefa as a private company. Subsequently, Baseefa has joined SGS, the world’s major supplier of test, certification and inspection services. Baseefa boasts over 300 years collective experience of hazardous area equipment certification, and is now working increasingly to support the users of such equipment.
Ron is active in standards development for hazardous area equipment: he is Chairman of BSI Committee EXL/31; Chairman of Cenelec Committee TC31; and a major contributor to the development of IEC standards. He attends the European Commission’s ATEX Standing Committee, and is well placed to interpret the latest thinking from the legislators. For four years, he has been chair of ExTAG, the Test and Assessment Group of the international IECEx Certification Scheme. ExTAG is the forum for all the IECEx Certification Bodies and Testing Laboratories to meet and to thrash out procedures to assist equal application throughout the world of the IEC standards for Ex protection.
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Reader Reply Card No 100 Annual Buyers’ Guide 2013 •
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