The Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2016

Made: 15-11-2016 | Laid: 16-11-2016 | Forced: 08-12-2016

Overview

These Regulations were made in order to implement the provisions of the revised EU Directive 2014/34/EU on equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres, and replaces and repeals the then current Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 1996.

The Regulations provide the technical requirements that ensure the safety of equipment and protective systems for use in potentially explosive atmospheres, and seek to apply the following principles:

to address the number of non-compliant products that reach the market through improved traceability and clearer requirements on manufacturers, importers and distributors to co-operate with enforcement authorities;
to address inconsistent performance between Notified Bodies through a reinforced notification process;
to address the complexity of the current legislation through alignment of commonly used definitions and certain aspects of the conformity assessment process.

The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 preserves the Regulations and enables them to be amended so as to continue to function effectively now that the UK has left the EU. Accordingly, the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations fix any deficiencies that arose from the UK leaving the EU (such as references to EU institutions) and make specific provision for the GB market.