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RegulationsATEX directive 1999/92/ECATEX directive 1999/92/EC is about minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres (ATEX). Hydrogen is a flammable gas which can form an ATEX where mixed with air (such an ATEX is defined by the directive as a mixture in which, after ignition occurred, combustion spreads to the entire unburned mixture). An employer who runs facilities where hydrogen is processed has the duty to meet the requirements of the directive, because his workers are potentially at risk from the effects of explosions which may be produced by ignition of an ATEX which can be formed. The employer has a general obligation to provide protection to his workers potentially at risk from ATEX. In order to provide this protection, the employer shall take technical and/or organisational measures appropriate to the nature of the operation, in order of priority and in accordance with the following basic principles:
The directive indicates the different obligations which the employer shall carry out, the main of them being detailed underneath. In carrying out its obligations, the employer shall assess the specific risks arising from ATEX, taking into account at least of :
A place in which an ATEX may occur in such quantities as to require special precautions to protect the health and safety of the workers concerned is deemed to be hazardous within the meaning of this directive. The employer shall classify hazardous places where ATEX's may occur into zones on the basis of the frequency and duration of the occurrence of an ATEX and in accordance with the following definition:
The employer shall ensure that a document, hereinafter referred to as the "explosion protection document", is drawn up and kept up to date. The explosion protection document shall demonstrate in particular:
The formation of a hydrogen-air ATEX is governed by the following characteristics :
Hydrogen has explosivity characteristics which show a high reactivity:
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