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Guest Article by Sigma HSE

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ISO/IEC 17025 Accredited Laboratory

The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulation (DSEAR) 2002 has been a compliance requirement within industry for many years but one of the biggest issues is actually maintaining compliance.

Businesses do not change aspects of the process on one particular day every year, so why do we review our DSEAR compliance in the same way?

Staff switch roles, take holidays, go on shared paternity leave and sometimes, unfortunately, become ill and need extended periods of convalescence. Do you have support (a nominated stand-in) for every key person in your process and knowledge skills matrix? Is their knowledge recorded somewhere and is it easily accessible to process staff?

Here are just some of the reasons why you should be considering updating or maintaining your DSEAR / ATEX assessment:

Changes to the Process

• Old equipment decommissioned with new plant/equipment being added or modified
• Change of supplier for raw materials or new products being manufactured
• Variability in the materials supplied for processing or requirement for new material flammability data
• Changes in storage conditions, IBC or silo etc
• Changes to conveyancing methods

Review and Audit

• New product lines introduced through existing plant or new plant brought on-stream
• Electrostatic hazards for low energy ignition risk dust, gas or vapour
• Changes in the electrostatic properties of flooring, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), process equipment
• Earthing review of equipment, transfer pipes, IBC/FIBC, PPE, overshoes, etc
• Dust / Powder hazards
• Thermal decomposition hazards

Plus more.

Change of Personnel, Competence Management and Site Contractor Risk

• Operator and supervisor competence and training review
• Hazard and risk awareness of shutdown and start-up processes
• Gap analysis of competence and expertise following loss of skilled personnel following retirement or staff reduction. Are site electricians CompEX certified
• Assessment of on-site Contractor safety training.
• Review of incident and near miss records.
• Review of Contractors risk assessment prior to nonroutine repairs (probably the cause of more incidents in industry than any other process risk)

Benefits of Sigma-HSE Services

The service offered by our experienced Process Safety Consultancy team includes:

• Over 100 years of combined testing and consultancy experience to ensure that our accurate and methodically generated test data is applied to your process safety applications correctly to protect your staff, your site and your brand reputation
• Free technical advice to ensure the correct test package is selected for your needs
• Complementary after sales support, to ensure you are happy with the data and understand the implications for you project

The SIGMA-HSE testing laboratory has state of the art equipment and is operated by senior laboratory staff with decades of testing knowledge. Internationally recognised standards are followed such as those adopted by the EU (BS & EN standards) and also ASTM standards as adopted within the USA.

Our laboratory testing quality is ISO/IEC 17025 Accredited so we can ensure that all results are accurate with traceable test data. However data alone is only one part of a process safety plan and must be used with both caution and expertise for it to be effective.

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External URL: https://www.heatingandprocess.com/dsear-atex-maintaining-compliance-in-hazardous-areas/