ATEX Regulations
ATEX regulations outlined by the ATEX directive are designed to reduce the likelihood of explosions in high-risk environments. This document will cover some situations where the directive must be followed, the steps Rotajet take to ensure our machinery is compliant, and what responsibilities you have when using machinery in high-risk environments.
ATEX Regulations and Compliance
The EU ATEX Directives are enshrined in UK law by Health and Safety regulations such as The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Compliance is regulated by the HSE and failure to apply due diligence can result in up to 3 months imprisonment and/or a £5,000 fine. Manufacturers of ATEX equipment, such as Rotajet Systems, are also obligated by the directive to recall or replace faulty or non-compliant machinery.
The potential of an explosion needs to be seriously addressed within your risk assessment process, as it poses a great risk of injury and loss of life to your workforce as well as the huge costs incurred by damage to your machinery and premises.
Implementing a controlled cleaning procedure by installing a Rotajet machine can be a huge step in protecting your operators from dangerous environments and reducing potential risk to your business. If assessing ATEX environments isn’t the focus of your business, ensuring your compliance can be a herculean task. Rotajet offer options for conducting full design studies and site surveys to make the process completely pain free.
Explosive Atmospheres
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines an explosive atmosphere as “a mixture of dangerous substances with air, under atmospheric conditions, in the form of gases, vapours, mist or dust in which, after ignition has occurred, combustion spreads to the entire unburned mixture.”
As our machinery focuses on chemical degreasing and cleaning, our focus is reducing the risk of the ignition of vapours and gases. It is important for us to assess how the contamination present on your components or containers will react with the intended cleaning medium.
CE Marking
All of our ATEX certified machinery comes with comprehensive CE marking which signifies a declaration from the responsible party, in this case the manufacturer. This is our guarantee that each component has been fully tested to comply with the relevant ATEX zone.
We want to make sure that the process of upgrading your equipment is as painless as possible. Please get in touch with our expert team if you have any questions about ATEX regulations or about how a design study can be implemented during the manufacture process of a Rotajet machine.