Posted By Neil Koskie Please can anyone advise me whether battery powered equipment such as torches and calculators are safe to use in zoned areas. Regards Neil

Posted By TBC Neil what you are looking for depending on the zone requirements will be 'intrinsically' safe equipment. That is electrical items which need a possible source of ignition (an electrical spark) kept away from the fuel (gas or flammable liquid vapours). These can vary and the site below will give you some idea of the items available. They are more expensive and 'normal' items. http://www.directindustr...ntrinsically%20safe.html

Posted By garyh I have often wondered about battery driven wris[expletive deleted]ches. Unless they are waterproof surely they could cause a spark? Low energy, sure, but still the potential is there.

Posted By Mike Draper I've had to look at this a number of times. We design & build process plant and equipment, usually with some sort of zoning regime. Hence we have all sorts of scenarios where people and equipment enter hazardous areas. The approach is very straightforward. A hazardous area will have been classified into a zone (see DSEAR for what this means and BS EN 60079-10 for zoning areas containing flammable gases or BS EN 50281-3 for zoning areas containing combustible dusts). Any equipment taken into a zoned area must meet the Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (EPS Regs for short) - a copy of the guidance can be downloaded from http://www.dti.gov.uk/strd/strdpubs.html There is a direct correlation between the category of the equipment and the zoning of the area. This is explained in the guidance to the EPS Regs. You can get most equipment in a form suitable for a zoned area, torches, tools, inspection equipment, etc - there is even a digital camera available that can be used in most zoned areas. This of course all falls down when you start to think about watches, calculators, hearing aids etc. As far as I know no-one makes this kind of thing for that kind of application. However what I have done in the past is look at the potential ignition energy of the item and the possibility that this could present a risk of ignition in a zoned area. The most unusual case was that of a person who required hearing aids. In that instance the conclusion that I finally drew was that providing the hearing aid were CE marked in accordance with the Medical Devices Directive, then it would by definition be suitable for use in Zone 2 or Zone 1 areas, as it would have to be safe for the wearer. That directive requires that the device should not harm the wearer under a single fault condition, hence it should not produce a spark under such conditions. In this particular case the devices might also have been suitable for use in Zone 0 conditions, providing that the maximum spark energy from the hearing aid was below the minimum ignition energy for the gas/solvent conditions encountered. I hope that gives you a point in the right direction. Mike