ATEX - Don’t Take a Chance with Non-Compliance!

Whilst penalties and sanctions for companies choosing to ignore the ATEX directives are still a little unclear, it would appear that the Health & Safety Executive are going to take a very firm approach. This could possibly include fines, total site shutdowns, and imprisonment.

It has been suggested that insurance underwriters are making noises in regards to non-payout of claims where ATEX regulations have not been complied with. This could possibly result in private damages cases going to court against company directors and senior managers.

Many companies that have sought professional advice before self assessment have found that they only need to ‘zone’ small areas of their production sites as opposed to blanket zoning costing many thousands of pounds.

Did you know that the following typical materials and substrates needed positive zoning requirements?

FOOD - Banana Powder, Carrot, Coffee, Cocoa, Fish, Glucose, Malt, Milk Powder, Orange Pips, Tomato, Wheat.

NON-FOOD - Aluminium, Brake dust, Cellulose,Cork, Developer, Fibres, Leather, Paper, Peat, Soot, Textile.