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32-524: The ATEX directives are two of the EU directives describing the minimum safety requirements for workplaces and equipment used in explosive atmospheres. The name is an initialization of the term ATmosphères EXplosibles ( French for "explosive atmospheres"). Organizations in the EU must follow Directives to protect employees from explosion risk in areas with an explosive atmosphere. There are two ATEX Directives (one for

64-508: A directive in theory but has failed to abide by its provisions in practice. If a Member State fails to implement a Directive timely or correctly, the Directive itself becomes binding on the Member States, meaning that parties in proceedings against the state may rely on provisions of the untimely or incorrectly transposed Directive. An example of a case in which the applicant was able to invoke

96-554: A directive rather than a regulation: (i) it complies with the EU's desire for "subsidiarity" ; (ii) it acknowledges that different member States have different legal systems, legal traditions and legal processes; and (iii) each Member State has leeway to choose its own statutory wording, rather than accepting the Brussels' official " Eurospeak " terminology. For example, while EU Directive 2009/20/EC (which simply requires all vessels visiting EU ports to have P&I cover) could have been

128-663: A place in which an explosive atmosphere consisting of a mixture of air or dangerous substances in the form of gas, vapor, or mist... Dust/Fibers: These are defined as a place in which an explosive atmosphere is in the form of a cloud of combustible dust in the air... "Effective ignition source" is a term defined in the European ATEX directive as an event that, in combination with sufficient oxygen and fuel, can cause an explosion. Methane, hydrogen, and coal dust are good examples of possible fuels. Effective ignition sources are: Directive (European Union) A directive

160-840: A regulation (without requiring member states to implement the directive), the desire for subsidiarity was paramount, so a directive was the chosen vehicle. The legal basis for the enactment of directives is Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (formerly Article 249 TEC ). Article 288 To exercise the Union's competences, the institutions shall adopt regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions. A regulation shall have general application. It shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. A directive shall be binding, as to

192-482: Is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve particular goals without dictating how the member states achieve those goals. A directive's goals have to be made the goals of one or more new or changed national laws by the member states before this legislation applies to individuals residing in the member states. Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to

224-575: Is allowed to be used indefinitely provided a risk assessment shows it is safe to do so. The aim of Directive 2014/34/EU is to allow the free trade of ‘ATEX’ equipment and protective systems within the EU by removing the need for separate testing and documentation for each member state. The regulations apply to all equipment intended for use in explosive atmospheres, whether electrical or mechanical, including protective systems. There are two categories of equipment: 'I' for mining and 'II' for surface industries. Manufacturers who apply its provisions and affix

256-675: Is defined as a mixture of dangerous substances under certain atmospheric conditions that are part of the air. They are in the form of gases or airborne particulates, in which, after ignition has occurred, combustion will spread to the entire mixture. The aforementioned atmospheric conditions are temperatures of −20 to 40°C, and pressures of 0.8 to 1.1 bar . The ATEX Directive covers explosions from flammable gas/vapors and combustible dust/fibers (which, contrary to common belief, can lead to hazardous explosions). The following are classifications for zones that can produce explosive atmospheres. Gas/Vapor/Mist: The following zones are each defined as

288-447: Is deprecated". Units derived from the bar include the megabar (symbol: Mbar ), kilobar (symbol: kbar ), decibar (symbol: dbar ), centibar (symbol: cbar ), and millibar (symbol: mbar ). The bar is defined using the SI derived unit , pascal : 1 bar ≡ 100,000 Pa ≡ 100,000 N/m . Thus, 1 bar is equal to: and 1 bar is approximately equal to: 1 millibar ( mbar )

320-458: Is equal to: The word bar has its origin in the Ancient Greek word βάρος ( baros ), meaning weight . The unit's official symbol is bar ; the earlier symbol b is now deprecated and conflicts with the uses of b denoting the unit barn or bit , but it is still encountered, especially as mb (rather than the proper mbar ) to denote the millibar. Between 1793 and 1795, the word bar

352-810: Is often described in bar outside the United States. Tire pressure is often specified in bar. In hydraulic machinery components are rated to the maximum system oil pressure, which is typically in hundreds of bar. For example, 300 bar is common for industrial fixed machinery. In the maritime ship industries, pressures in piping systems, such as cooling water systems, is often measured in bar. Unicode has characters for "mb" ( U+33D4 ㏔ SQUARE MB SMALL ), "bar" ( U+3374 ㍴ SQUARE BAR ) and ミリバール ( U+334A ㍊ SQUARE MIRIBAARU ), but they exist only for compatibility with legacy Asian encodings and are not intended to be used in new documents. The kilobar, equivalent to 100 MPa,

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384-568: The CE marking and the Ex marking are able to sell their equipment anywhere within the European Union without any further requirements with respect to the risks covered being applied. The directive covers a large range of equipment, potentially including equipment used on fixed offshore platforms, in petrochemical plants, mines, flour mills , and other areas where a potentially explosive atmosphere may be present. In very broad terms, there are three preconditions for

416-446: The geopotential anomaly the pressure can be converted into metres' depth according to an empirical formula (UNESCO Tech. Paper 44, p. 25). As a result, decibar is commonly used in oceanography . In scuba diving, bar is also the most widely used unit to express pressure, e.g. 200 bar being a full standard scuba tank, and depth increments of 10 metre of seawater being equivalent to 1 bar of pressure. Many engineers worldwide use

448-598: The European Court of Justice developed the doctrine of direct effect where unimplemented or badly implemented directives can actually have direct legal force. In the important case of Francovich v. Italy , the ECJ extended the principle of Van Gend en Loos to provide that Member States who failed to implement a directive could incur liability to pay damages to individuals and companies who had been adversely affected by such non-implementation. Bar (unit) The bar and

480-437: The appropriate legislative procedure, both institutions can seek to make laws. There are Council directives and Commission directives. Article 288 does not clearly distinguish between legislative acts and administrative acts, as is normally done in national legal systems. Directives are binding only on the member states to whom they are addressed, which can be just one member state or a group of them. In general, however, with

512-429: The bar as a unit of pressure because, in much of their work, using pascals would involve using very large numbers. In measurement of vacuum and in vacuum engineering , residual pressures are typically given in millibar, although torr or millimeter of mercury (mmHg) were historically common. Pressures resulting from deflagrations are often expressed in units of bar. In the automotive field, turbocharger boost

544-401: The directive to apply: the equipment must (a) have its own effective source of ignition, (b) be intended for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere (air mixtures), and (c) be under normal atmospheric conditions. The directive also covers components essential for the safe use and safety devices directly contributing to the safe use of the equipment in scope. These latter devices may be outside

576-542: The directive to be implemented correctly. This is done in approximately 99% of the cases. If a member state fails to pass the required national legislation, or if the national legislation does not adequately comply with the requirements of the directive, the European Commission may initiate legal action against the member state in the European Court of Justice . This may also happen when a member state has transposed

608-460: The equipment or protective system is fit for its intended purpose and that adequate information is supplied with it to ensure that it can be used safely. There are four ATEX classifications to ensure that a specific piece of equipment or protective system is appropriate and can be safely used in a particular application: 1. Industrial or Mining Application 2. Equipment Category 3. Atmosphere 4. Temperature In DSEAR , an explosive atmosphere

640-732: The exact rules to be adopted. Directives can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter. The text of a draft directive (if subject to the co-decision process, as contentious matters usually are) is prepared by the Commission after consultation with its own and national experts. The draft is presented to the Parliament and the Council —composed of relevant ministers of member governments, initially for evaluation and comment and then subsequently for approval or rejection. There are justifications for using

672-572: The exception of directives related to the Common Agricultural Policy , directives are addressed to all member states. When adopted, directives give member states a timetable for the implementation of the intended outcome. Occasionally, the laws of a member state may already comply with this outcome, and the state involved would be required only to keep its laws in place. More commonly, member states are required to make changes to their laws (commonly referred to as transposition ) in order for

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704-510: The harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres. Regarding ATEX 99/92/EC Directive, the requirement is that Employers must classify areas where potentially explosive atmospheres may occur, into zones. The classification given to a particular zone, and its size and location, depends on the likelihood of an explosive atmosphere occurring and its persistence if it does. Equipment in use before July 2003

736-469: The local language) and Category 2 non-electrical equipment. Still, for Category 2 the technical dossier must be lodged with a notified body. Once certified, the equipment is marked by the ‘CE’ (meaning it complies with ATEX and all other relevant directives) and the ‘Ex’ symbol to identify it as approved under the ATEX directive. The technical dossier must be kept for a period of 10 years. Certification ensures that

768-475: The manufacturer and one for the user of the equipment): Note: The ATEX 95 "equipment" Directive 94/9/EC, was withdrawn on 20 April 2016 when it was replaced by ATEX 114 Directive 2014/34/EU. ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU is mandatory for manufacturers as of 20 April 2016 as stated in article 44 of the Directive. ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU was published on 29 March 2014, by the European Parliament. It refers to

800-792: The millibar were introduced by the Norwegian meteorologist Vilhelm Bjerknes , who was a founder of the modern practice of weather forecasting , with the bar defined as one mega dyne per square centimeter . The SI brochure , despite previously mentioning the bar, now omits any mention of it. The bar has been legally recognised in countries of the European Union since 2004. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) deprecates its use except for "limited use in meteorology " and lists it as one of several units that "must not be introduced in fields where they are not presently used". The International Astronomical Union (IAU) also lists it under "Non-SI units and symbols whose continued use

832-614: The potentially explosive environment. Manufacturers/suppliers (or importers, if the manufacturers are outside the EU) must ensure that their products meet essential health and safety requirements and undergo appropriate conformity procedures. This usually involves testing and certification by a ‘third-party’ certification body (known as a Notified Body e.g. UL , Vinçotte, Intertek , Sira, Baseefa, Lloyd's, TUV ICQC) but manufacturers/suppliers can ‘self-certify’ Category 3 equipment (technical dossier including drawings, hazard analysis and users manual in

864-711: The provisions of an untimely transposed Directive is the Verkooijen case, in which the European Court of Justice rendered a judgement on 6 June 2000 (case no. C-35/98). The United Kingdom passed a statutory instrument , the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1994 , to implement the EU Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Directive 1993 . For reasons that are not clear, the 1994 SI

896-453: The result to be achieved, upon each Member State to which it is addressed, but shall leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods. A decision shall be binding in its entirety upon those to whom it is addressed. Recommendations and opinions shall have no binding force. The Council can delegate legislative authority to the Commission and, depending on the area and

928-453: The use of the millibar in US reports of hurricanes and other cyclonic storms. In fresh water, there is an approximate numerical equivalence between the change in pressure in decibar and the change in depth from the water surface in metres . Specifically, an increase of 1 decibar occurs for every 1.019716 m increase in depth. In sea water with respect to the gravity variation, the latitude and

960-448: The values are convenient. After the advent of SI units, some meteorologists began using hectopascals (symbol hPa) which are numerically equivalent to millibar; for the same reason, the hectopascal is now the standard unit used to express barometric pressures in aviation in most countries. For example, the weather office of Environment Canada uses kilopascals and hectopascals on their weather maps. In contrast, Americans are familiar with

992-437: Was deemed inadequate and was repealed and replaced by the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 . The Consumer Rights Act 2015 , a major United Kingdom statute consolidating consumer rights, then abolished the 1999 SI; so presumably the 2015 Act complies with the 1993 EU directive, which remains extant. Even though directives were not originally thought to be binding before they were implemented by member states,

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1024-419: Was used for a unit of mass (equal to the modern tonne ) in an early version of the metric system. Atmospheric air pressure where standard atmospheric pressure is defined as 1013.25 mbar, 101.325  kPa , 1.01325 bar, which is about 14.7 pounds per square inch . Despite the millibar not being an SI unit, meteorologists and weather reporters worldwide have long measured air pressure in millibar as

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