Hi everybody, I'm doing a bit of a reserch here since the rig I'm working on just bought about 200 ea of Smart watches and give out to everybody. The model of the watch is FITBIT Charge HR.

Some areas on the rig are classed as Class I Division II Atmosphere. Can this watch be worn by personnel working in those areas?

The battery is Lithium-polymer with 3-5 Voltage. This watch is splash proof not water proof. Below is the link to product's manual

https://staticcs.fitbit.com/content/assets/help/manuals/manual_charge_hr_en_US.pdf

Originally Posted by: gerrysharpe

Have you yried contacting the manufacturers as they would have this kind of information and they would best be placed to advise further. I'm guessing that if the company bought these yhey would of looked into it a bit futher than simply buying on a whim

Hi, yes I did contact the manufacturer and they replied as per below;

"We have yet to have studies that involve the use of the tracker with an environment like your workplace, on the other hand, our trackers have complied with the safety and regulatory rules of different countries, like:

• USA: complies with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules
• Canada: meets the IC requirements for RF exposure in public or uncontrolled environments.
• EU: Compliant with the standard R&TTE 99/CE/05

The Charge HR also uses PurePulse LED lights that have very low power, and they're programmed to shut down if your device freezes or can't find a signal. Moreover, our trackers generate, use and can radiate radio frequency energy, so you may want to take these into consideration when using our tracker with the atmosphere on your workplace."

We bought this as a new year and 3-year Serious Incident Free gift for the crew. Majority don't use it at the worksite but still some of them do.

In theory, these watches are not compatible with zoned areas , as they are not certified to the relevant standard. But from a practical viewpoint I suggest there's not much of a risk at all. For the watch to be an ignition source, gas within the flammable concentation range has to leak into it or, at the very least, be at that concentation in the immediate vicinity, i.e. around the person's wrist. If you are a typical rig, that will be under a couple of layers of clothing?

If there's gas in an area at that concentration, the alarm is likely to have sounded some time earlier (typically set at 20% LEL, i.e. 5 times lower than the starting point for any ignition risk - though of course the highest concentration is probably not right at the detection point). So personnel should be leaving the area, not staying around to let any gas reach significant concentations where they are. So, leaving aside questions about whether the watch has enough energy to cause ignition, it's very hard to envisage it being surrounded by a flammable atmosphere.

One exception would be your ERT, who under rare circumstances might have to enter such an atmosphere - definitely not recommended, as thye are at VERY severe risk if it is ignited. However, it would be sensible for them not to wear such personal items. But would they remember to remove them amidst all the other emergency response actions they have to take?

Hope this thinking helps.

Originally Posted by: Hilti

Originally Posted by: Joke

Some areas on the rig are classed as Class I Division II Atmosphere. Can this watch be worn by personnel working in those areas?

Short answer is yes they can. These are classed as PEP 1 devices under ISA RP 12 Recommended Practice for Portable Electronic Products suitable for use in Class 1 and II , Division 2 Hazardous (Classified) Locations.

Regards

 

Thank you for your reply. As I understand, the Class I Division II is equal to Zone 2 right? What about using this smart watches in Zone 1?