DSEAR

DSEAR (and ATEX 153) requires employers to assess the risks of fires and explosions that may be caused by dangerous substances in the workplace and eliminate or reduce these risks as far as is reasonably practicable.

The risk assessment is an identification and careful examination of the dangerous substances present or liable to be present in the workplace; the work activities involving them; and how they might fail and cause fire, explosion and similar events that could harm employees and the public.

You must carry out a risk assessment regardless of the quantity of dangerous substance present, as it will enable you to decide whether existing measures are sufficient or whether any additional controls or precautions are necessary.

As well as assessing the normal activities within the workplace, you will also need to assess non-routine activities, such as maintenance work, where there is often a higher potential for fire and explosion incidents to occur.

Area classification is often described as an art, it can be very subjective and heavily dependent on experience and accrued/developed knowledge. We do not claim to be able to make you experts overnight but we can provide you with expert advice and support.

The Regulations

The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) came into force on 9th December 2002 and applies to workplaces in the majority of industrial and commercial sectors.

DSEAR 2002 was made under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (the HSW Act).

The Regulations implement two European Directives:

(a) the safety aspects of the Chemical Agents Directive 98/24/EC (CAD); and

(b) the Explosive Atmospheres Directive 99/92/EC (ATEX).

The primary purpose of DSEAR is to protect workers and others who may be at risk from dangerous substances that can cause a fire, explosion or similar energy-releasing event, such as a runaway exothermic reaction.

DSEAR is concerned with protection against risks of fire, explosion and similar events arising from dangerous substances used or present in the workplace.

The regulations apply to employers and the self-employed where a dangerous substance is present or could be present.

Main requirements of DSEAR:

- Assess the risks of fires and explosions that may be caused by dangerous substances in the workplace;

- Eliminate or reduce these risks as far as is reasonably practicable;

- Classify places where explosive atmospheres may occur into zones and mark the zones where necessary;

- Provide equipment and procedures to deal with accidents and emergencies;

- Provide information and training to employees.

Regulation 5 - Risk Assessment

This regulation requires all employers and the self-employed to assess all potential risks to employees and others whose safety may be affected by the use or presence of a dangerous substance at the workplace.

Employers should check that measures are in place before beginning any new work activity or processes and recheck arrangements periodically.

If five or more people are employed, a written record of the significant findings is required.

This can either be a separate record or integrated into the record made of overall assessment under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 or the fire safety regulations.

Regulation 6 - Elimination or reduction of risks from dangerous substances

Regulation 6 sets out how to eliminate or reduce risk to people’s safety from the presence of dangerous substances by removing or controlling risks, and by providing measures to limit or mitigate the consequences for people, should an incident occur.

A hierarchy of control measures is set out and the measures required to reduce the effects of an incident.

The employer has a duty to provide and to maintain the measures.

Regulation 7 - Places where explosive atmospheres may occur

Regulation 7 contains specific requirements to be applied where an explosive atmosphere may occur (in addition to the requirements in regulations 5 and 6).

The regulation requires competent identification of hazardous and non-hazardous zones before new work starts and verification by a competent person.

The basic objective of hazardous area classification, whether for gas, vapour, mist or dust, is to identify the possibility of an explosive atmosphere existing in a given location and to influence the design of any plant or facility to minimise such risks.

It is therefore a tool to be used together with the operational requirements in the design of any plant, process or facility, and the result will invariably be a compromise between convenience of operation and security against explosion.

Installations in which flammable substances are handled or stored should be designed, constructed, operated and maintained so that any releases of flammable substance, and consequently the extent of hazardous areas, are kept to a minimum, whether in normal or abnormal operation, with regard to frequency, duration and quantity of a release.

It is important to examine those parts of process equipment and systems from which a release of flammable substance may arise and to consider modifying the design to minimise the likelihood and frequency of such releases and the quantity and rate of release of substance.

These fundamental considerations should be examined at an early stage of the design development of any process plant and should also receive prime attention in carrying out the area classification study.

The aim of area classification is to avoid ignition of those releases that may occur from time to time in the normal operation of facilities handling flammable fluids.

The approach is to reduce the probability of coincidence of a flammable atmosphere and an effective source of ignition.

It is not the aim of area classification to prevent the ignition of major accidental releases of flammable materials that could extend to large distances from the release source.

These larger accidental releases, which may result from major or catastrophic failure of process or storage equipment, should be dealt with by risk assessment and other procedures or processes including the requirements of relevant legislation.

In the case of activities other than those of normal operation, e.g. commissioning or non-routine maintenance, the area classification may not be valid.

It is expected that activities other than those of normal operation would be dealt with by a safe system of work, however, the area classification should take into account any routine maintenance.

In summary, area classification is a method of analysing and classifying the environment where explosive gas atmospheres may occur, so as to facilitate the proper selection, installation and operation of equipment to be used safely in that environment.

The classification also takes into account the ignition characteristics of the gas or vapour such as ignition energy and ignition temperature.

Area classification has two main objectives, the determination of the type of any hazardous zone, and the extent of the zone.

The design intent should always be to minimise the extent of the hazard radii. It is not considered to be good practice to classify hazardous areas that would reach uncontrolled sources of ignition.

The Energy Institute Model Code of Safe Practice Part 15 defines area classifications as follows:

"Area classification is the assessed division of a facility into hazardous areas and non-hazardous areas, and the subdivision of the hazardous areas into zones. A hazardous area is defined as a three-dimensional space in which a flammable atmosphere may be expected to be present at such frequencies as to require special precautions for the design and construction of equipment, and the control of other potential ignition sources. All other areas are non-hazardous in this context, though they may, in part or whole, form part of a wider restricted area within the facility in which all work is carried out under special controls."

Regulation 8 - Arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies

This regulation requires employers to protect the safety of employees by forward planning to have in place arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies, including the evacuation, escape or rescue of people.

The arrangements include first aid, safety drills and testing, information on hazards, warning and response systems and means of escape.

These are required unless such measures would be disproportionate to the risk.

Regulation 9 - Information, instruction and training

Appropriate information, training and instruction should be given to contractors and employees on the dangerous substances present together with information on the hazards, risks, precautions and actions necessary for them to remain safe.

Regulation 10 - Identification of hazardous contents of containers and pipes

This regulation applies to containers and pipes that contain dangerous substances that are not subject to or are exempt from any marking requirements in the legislation.

Regulation 11 - Duty of co-ordination

Regulation 11 addresses the need to co-ordinate explosion protection measures where employers share the same workplace.

Where two or more employers share the same workplace (whether on a temporary or a permanent basis) where an explosive atmosphere may occur, the employer responsible for the workplace shall co-ordinate the implementation of all the measures required by the Regulations to be taken to protect employees from any risk from the explosive atmosphere.

The aim of co-ordination is to safeguard people by:

(a) alerting other employers, employees and others at the workplace to the potential presence of hazardous places;

(b) ensuring that suitable control and mitigation measures are in place;

(c) ensuring employees and others have sufficient training etc (see regulation 9); and

(d) facilitating emergency arrangements in the event of an incident.

In shared premises, it may be the employer responsible for the workplace or one of the other employers who shares the premises whose work activity creates the explosive atmosphere.

Effective co-ordination will require the responsible employer for the workplace to obtain sufficient information from all employers at the workplace about the nature of their work activity, whether any dangerous substances are likely to be present, and the likelihood of an explosive atmosphere occurring.

All employers at the workplace should provide the responsible employer with the information required and assist in assessing the shared risks and implementing any necessary safety measures.

In multi-occupancy premises, it is not expected that an explosive atmosphere would extend into shared common areas. However, the occupier/employer should still carefully consider the potential for and effect of an incident involving dangerous substances on the rest of the premises including the common parts and liaise with the other occupants to ensure adequate emergency procedures are in place.