Standards Update

It is now nearly 10 years since UK ATEX Directive Notified Bodies were asked by the then Department of Trade and Industry (DTI, now BIS, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) to add a level of monitoring to Declarations of Conformity (DoCs) during regular surveillance visits to manufacturers.  Until that time, we had been told that, since the DoC is a legal document produced by the manufacturer and it was not mentioned in EN 13980, we should not investigate or pass comment: it was none of our business.  Then a new incumbent at the DTI became aware that many DoCs were, to put it very politely, inaccurate, although a correct term might have been “utter rubbish”. In the intervening period, we have worked...

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About 20 years ago I sat down to chair my first meeting within IEC TC 31.  It was the initial meeting of SC31L: Electrical apparatus for the detection of flammable gases.  I had been chosen for the role because the proposed basis for the new international standards had come from both Europe and USA and they were very different.   The net had been cast for a country that had some background in developing standards for performance of gas detector which could hopefully provide an informal chair.   At the time I was chairman of the Australian mirror committee of TC 31 (EL014) and Australia had its own standards on gas detectors. Prior to the meeting, the secretary of SC 31L and I had put quite a deal of work to...

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A row has developed on the subject of flameproof gaps. I had always thought that the basic principles of the flameproof concept were clearly understood by those operating in our industry. These can be summarised as: 1. The enclosure must be strong enough to withstand an internal explosion without rupturing. 2. The products of combustion, from such an explosion, must be vented to the outside atmosphere through controlled gaps in such a way that they do not ignite an external explosive atmosphere. 3. Because of the way in which the gaps, as specified in the standard, prevent external ignition, there should be no uncontrolled gaps. The absence of uncontrolled gaps is proved by observation...

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I am writing this at the end of September in the middle of the IEC General Meeting in Oslo. So far I have been at two meetings and both have brought out ideas that I thought I might share about how those of us involved in the standards writing process try to meet the needs of industry. Care and Repair of Motors Everyone should now be familiar with the existence of IEC 60079-19, the standard which controls the repair procedures applicable to Ex Equipment. Its origins were in a BEAMA/AEMT code of practice for repair which originated in the UK several years ago. This  came about as a result of the coal industry divesting itself of in-house repair facilities, and the desire to have...

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