Will the UK Waste Industry Achieve Safe Compliance with the ATEX Regulations in time?

Waste Management Operators may have done allnormally be the site manager.
they can to maintain good health and safety(Please include the ATEX sign graphic here.)
practices in the past, and will continue to do so;This requirement is in addition to the normal
but how many will be compliant after 30th Julypractice of writing method statements based
2006 when the EU's ATEX Directive finally comesupon risk assessments, plus internal H&S checks,
into force?and Supervisor approvals in place in companies
The EU Directive applies to all workplaces wherealready, as has been the case since the
the risk of the presence of an Explosibleintroduction of various health and safety legislation
Atmosphere exists, and encompasses allin the 1980s.
installations from waste transfer and processingA major area of concern remains in respect of
plant (where explosive dusts, and unused solventsthe impact which the DSEAR will have on the
may create an explosive atmosphere), to anyafter-use and restoration of landfill sites, and such
landfill - no matter how long since closed andmatters need to be taken on-board by the
made over to other uses - which possesses anyplanners when after-use policy is established for
wells (for gas or leachate monitoring orsites. The directive is explicit and prescriptive in
management) in gassing waste.that each zone area must be signed, and it is
Although the large waste operators have beenclear that these zones extend into the general
actively tackling the issues surrounding ATEXairspace around and above chambers, wells, and
compliance at their waste collection, transfer andboreholes etc. Just how this can be squared with
processing facilities, and on their (mostly active)public access uses such as golfing, and even
landfill sites, most landfills are historical and fall intodog-walking has yet to be resolved - yet the
the "closed" category. In this area there has beendefined zones apply to workplace activities and
very little activity to review old sites, assessnot the public usage of the site.
which exhibit the potential for an explosiveGenerally, the ICoPs give guidance which by its
atmosphere to be present, and compile thespecificity will clarify the interpretation DSEAR
necessary risk assessment, ameliorative, trainingrequirements and reduce costs to an affordable
and record keeping actions needed for compliance.level. Detailed reading of the ICoPs should do
Similarly, activity would seem to have beenmuch to allay concerns that wholesale
minimal in reviewing and risk assessing existingreplacement of equipment which has given
leachate treatment and methane stripping plantlong-term incident free service over many sites
for compliance - so far.and for extended periods, would be required just
Even within the big five UK waste operatorsto comply with the directive.
active sites there are real problems in interpretingThere have however, already reportedly been
the requirements and in achieving compliance, andsubstantial costs to some major operators in
much of this arises from the inherent difficulty inpreparation for DSEAR. SITA themselves have
applying regulations which were originally perceivedbeen reported as finding it necessary to spend
for factory and industrial workplaces, to a landfillbetween £50,000 and £100,000 per
setting.flare, on changing 18 of its landfill gas flares on
However, the industry has been actively workingsites around the country to comply.
to solve the matter. For more than the past 12Such high costs are likely to be the exception
months the waste industry has been endeavoringrather than the rule, and costs will be best
to tackle the various issues surrounding ATEXcontrolled by careful reading, and in-depth
compliance, as regulated under the UK'sknowledge, of the ICoPS. Although not all ICoPs
instrument known as the DSEAR (Dangeroushave yet been published, reviews can be
Substances and Explosive Atmosphereundertaken in full knowledge of the approach
Regulations). A working group has been meeting,being taken by the ICoP committee. Industry
and is currently well advanced in its programmeparticipants will normally also be provided with final
to produce six Industry Codes of Practice todrafts of ICoPs prior to publication for their
provide comprehensive guidance on the applicationcomments, on request.
DSEAR to all waste management activities.So the message is that all Site Managers, Estate
The first Code (ICoP1) was published in AutumnManagers with former landfills as part of their
2005, and establishes general principles oflandholding portfolios, and the Waste Disposal
compliance, provides basic calculations forOfficers for Council's responsible for closed landfill
establishing ATEX Area Classification ("Zones")should be aware of this legislation and should be
around landfill wells, boreholes etc., and providesmaking it their duty to familiarise themselves with
examples of the most common zoning.the ICoPs, and then carry out their reviews, and
ICoP 2 is titled, "Area Classification for Landfill Gasall this needs to be done by the end of this
Extraction, Utilisation & Combustion", and wasmonth (June).
published in November 2005.By taking this approach DSEAR compliance should
ICoP 3; "Area classification for leachate extraction,become both affordable, and reduce injuries from
treatment and disposal", has now also recentlythese risks. Whether the rate of injury directly
been published, and a further ICoP on Landfillfrom the risks covered by these regulations was
Operation is well advanced.ever sufficiently high for any statistically relevant
All these documents are approved by the HealthHealth and Safety gain ever to be seen is
& Safety Executive, before publication, and aredoubtful, but we hope we are proved wrong, and
available for free download on the ESA web sitethat the passage of time will reveal real benefits
All operators will find that changes to existingto the industries workforce. In any event, the
practices will be required in order to comply withimplementation of these regulations will go ahead
the DSEAR. Previous procedures for carrying outon 1 July, so the wise will go ahead now and
risk assessments and establishing safe workingcomply as a matter of urgency.
methods will need to be re-assessed and modifiedNote 1: The article refers to the "ATEX Directive",
to comply with the new DSEAR Zoningfor brevity, however, the DSEAR actually
requirements. Specifications for equipment willimplements two EU Directives on the subject,
require review and either ATEX Certifiednamely: The ATEX Product Directive, and the
equipment installed, or a site specific riskATEX Worker Protection Directive.
assessment undertaken to justify each plantNote 2: The term "ATEX" is derived from a
installation is "appropriately" certified if ATEXshortening of the words ATmosphere and
Certificates are not available for existing plant, asEXplosible.
required under these regulations.(Steve Last served on the committee in
All staff and operatives will in future under thesepreparation of ICoP 3, and has commented on
regulations be required to be trained specifically inothers.)
atmospheric explosion risk management inThis article is free for republishing
general, and in the meaning of three ATEX Zones,Source:
each of which reflect the degree of risk withinOccupation: Environmental Engineer
one of three classified risk severity situations.Steve Last is an environmental engineer who is
Drawings must be retained on site showing thealso a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), and lives
locations and extent of these ATEX areain the county of Shropshire, UK. CEnv is a new
classification zones, and each zone must beand growing academic discipline created in the last
marked on site by a sign. These zones will all needtwo years. All Chartered Environmentalists further
defining individually for each site on the basis of athe principles of sustainability.
risk assessment. The ICoPs recommend the bestUK and World Climate Change: For Better or for
person to carry out these assessments willWorse.