FEATURE HAZARDOUS AREA EQUIPMENT
What effect will Brexit have on compliance for hazardous areas?
Tim Marks, representing the AEMT as a member of BSI, IEC, and IECEx standards committees for explosive atmospheres and rotating electrical equipment, looks at the issues facing the hazardous area industry now that the UK Parliament has agreed to Brexit
T
here are currently a lot of blank faces, particularly when it comes to
the subject of standards, directives and compliance in the wake of Brexit. What does it mean for the hazardous area industry and will it cause problems for companies doing business in the UK?
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STANDARDS AND DIRECTIVES Technical standards embody the best practice, put together by technical experts to create a uniform engineering or technical criteria. They are becoming more and more international, are not mandatory and will not be affected by Brexit. European directives, however, are designed to create a level playing field for trade within the EU. They must be embodied into the laws of each EU member and are mandatory. The two are often interlinked and standards can be used to support and help meet European directive requirements. Hazardous areas are covered by the ATEX Directives for potentially explosive atmospheres. There are two ATEX directives: ATEX 95 (originally ATEX 94/9/EC, but superseded by ATEX 2014/34/EU on April 20, 2016) and ATEX 137, a workplace directive 99/92/EC covering Health and Safety on site.
There is also the legislation that
embodies the ATEX directives into the UK legal system, DSEAR (The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations). To a large degree these directives will still need to be conformed to after Brexit. Every item manufactured for use in an EU zoned hazardous area has to have a valid certificate of compliance to the ATEX directives. The certificate gives information on the results of testing for compliance and named standards and is only issued after three samples of each item have been extensively tested in an accredited laboratory by a notified body in the EU.
THE UK HAZARDOUS AREA INDUSTRY AFTER BREXIT? Will Brexit affect UK manufacturers and importers whose products have the required ATEX certificates? If the UK continues to ensure that products manufactured, or imported into the UK, abide by the ATEX directives, discussions over ease of access to the EU countries by the Customs Union Committee should be more straightforward. The existing ATEX certificates will ensure ease of access into the European market. There would be no advantage in the UK deciding not to comply with the ATEX
directives and many advantages in keeping the status quo. Users of hazardous area equipment will still specify, buy and conform to directives as long as DSEAR continues in the UK. Will the government alter DSEAR if it
no longer needs to comply with Europe? DSEAR ensures that everything manufactured or imported to the UK still complies with the European Directive. ATEX works well and is well respected internationally. Its requirement in the UK protects our markets from a flood of non ATEX compliant equipment, and should continue to facilitate the free movement of hazardous area equipment from the UK to Europe, and vice versa. Will UK companies still be able to
manufacture to European standards and directives? Standards are becoming more international and most of the developed countries are signed into adopting the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) or IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standards. The majority of these are harmonised into the European CEN or CENELEC standards systems, and most EU members are also members of ISO and IEC. Occasionally CEN or CENELEC will produce a standard as a result of a new directive, and this can go the other way
18 JUNE 2017 | ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
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