EMMUA 214 States

1.1 European directives

Two European Directives, the ATEX Equipment Directive

2014/34/EU, which replaced 94/9/EC (also known as AT EX 95 in April 2016, and the AT EX Workplace Directive 1999/92/EC (also known as ATEX 137) address safety where there is a danger from potentially explosive materials. The Directives relate equally to places where combustible dusts or flammable gases may be present.

The ATEX 95 Directive was introduced to remove barriers to trade by ensuring that the quality of equipment, wherever it is manufactured in the EU, met rigorous essential safety requirements. This Directive divides equipment into groups and categories. Group I applies to equipment associated with underground mines. Group Il applies to all other equipment liable to be endangered by explosive gases, vapours or dusts.

The AT EX 137 Directive is aimed at ensuring the health and safety of workers whilst in their place of work. This Directive classifies the work place, where applicable, into zones. Zones provide a measure of the probability of the presence of a dangerous mixture with air of any flammable gas or combustible dust. Zones with flammable gases are 0, 1 or 2 and zones with combustible dusts are 20, 21 or 22.