ATEX
-From the French-
ATmospheres EXplosibles
Compliance with the ATEX Directive is a legal requirement in all European Union Member States on 1 July 2003.If you design, manufacture or sell any equipment or protective system intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres you will need to comply with the ATEX Directive 94/9/EC and the CE Marking Directive.
Requirements of the ATEX Directive
At first sight the wide reaching implications of the ATEX Directive appears to be very demanding. In common with all European Directives, the ATEX Directive has its own essential health and safety requirements (EHSR) and manufacturers must certainly do more to satisfy all of its requirements. However the good news is that the ATEX Directive is infinitely more flexible than the old approach. Many of its requirements are already being met by manufacturers who have always had to satisfy the requirements of the Explosive Atmosphere Directive in order to produce a marketable product. The ATEX Directive therefore gives manufacturers an opportunity to prove that they have good products, because in complying with this directive, users will know that manufacturers have had to attain a higher standard.
The essential requirements of the ATEX Directive require manufacturers to satisfy a number of objectives. Whereas the old approach Explosive Atmosphere Directive manufacturers were obliged to observe only published European standards, under the ATEX Directive manufacturers can consider other options. Manufacturers are, however, advised to observe the requirements of published European standards as their first option, because these have been written to satisfy certain of the EHSR of the ATEX Directive.
With the introduction of the ATEX Directive manufacturers now have an opportunity to introduce more innovative products than was possible under the old Explosive Atmospheres Directive. The ATEX Directive sets a number of technical and quality objectives that must be complied with to the satisfaction of a notified body, but once these have been met, a manufacturer is entitled to display the distinctive European Mark  which is recognized throughout the European Union. Full advantage of the ATEX Directive can be taken by manufacturers that choose notified bodies with broad technical experience in wide ranging disciplines. Make sure that your consulting firm works with the full cooperation of such an organization providing a means of taking full advantage of the ATEX Directive. All equipment will require CE Marking.
Complying with the requirements under this directive are complex. QNET has registered European Engineers familiar with all methods of explosion protection and in particular intrinsic safety, flameproof and increased safety methods of protection using European standards EN 50014 through EN 50028.
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E-mail: qnet@ce-mark.com
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