Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR)

Implementing the Chemical Agents Directive 98/24/EC (CAD)
and the Explosive Atmospheres Directive 99/92/EC (ATEX 137)

Introduction

The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) came into force on 9 December 2002. The Regulations can be found here. DSEAR applies to all dangerous substances at nearly every business in GB. It sets minimum requirements for the protection of workers from fire and explosion risks arising from dangerous substances and potentially explosive atmospheres. DSEAR complements the requirement to manage risks under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Guidelines on the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmosphere Regulations (DSEAR)

A brief summary of the main requirements of DSEAR is given below.

Employers and the self-employed must:

• Carry out a risk assessment of any work activities involving dangerous substances;
• Provide technical and organisational measures to eliminate or reduce as far as is reasonably practicable the identified risks;
• Provide equipment and procedures to deal with accident and emergencies;
• Provide information and training to employees;
• Classify places where explosive atmospheres may occur into zones, and mark the zones where necessary. (This duty is being phased in - see table for dates.)

Overall, DSEAR can be seen as complementary to the general duty to manage risks under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, making explicit good practices for reducing the risk to persons from fires, explosions and similar energetic (energy releasing) events which are in turn caused by dangerous substances such as flammable solvents.

The impact of DSEAR on the diligent employer should therefore be small.

HSE DSEAR webpage

Scope of DSEAR

Other than for certain maritime activities, DSEAR applies whenever the following conditions have been satisfied:

1. There is work being carried out by an employer or self-employed person;
2. A dangerous substance is present or is liable to be present at the workplace;
3. The dangerous substance presents a risk to the safety of persons (as opposed to a risk to health).

The definition of workplace is very wide and means any premises or part of premises used for work. Premises include all industrial and commercial premises. It also includes land-based and offshore installations as well as vehicles and vessels. Common parts of shared buildings, private roads and paths on industrial estates, and business parks are also "premises" - as are houses and other domestic dwellings.

If there is a work activity in "premises" as defined above then it is a workplace for DSEAR purposes.

However the requirements in DSEAR concerning zoning, and the co-ordination of safety measures in shared workplaces (see Regulations 7 and 11 of DSEAR) do not apply to all workplaces. Certain sectors and work activities are exempted (see Regulation 3 of DSEAR) because there is other legislation fulfilling these requirements, for example, in the offshore sector.

Dangerous Substances

DSEAR applies to any substance or preparation (mixture of substances) with the potential to create a risk to persons from energetic (energy-releasing) events such as fires, explosions, thermal runaway from exothermic reactions etc.

Such substances, which are known in DSEAR as dangerous substances, include: petrol, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), paints, varnishes and certain types of combustible and explosive dusts produced in, for example, machining and sanding operations.

It should be noted that many of these substances would also create a health risk as well. For example many solvents are toxic as well as being flammable. DSEAR does not address these health risks. They are dealt with by the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH), which have been amended to implement the health side of CAD.

DSEAR is concerned with harmful physical effects from thermal radiation (burns); over-pressure effects (blast injuries) and oxygen depletion effects (asphyxiation) arising from fires and explosions.

Annex 1 sets out the steps necessary to determine whether you have a dangerous substance present in your workplace.

Industries affected

The following examples illustrate the type of activities and substances commonly found at work that are likely to be covered by DSEAR:

• Storage of petrol as a fuel for cars, motor boats, horticultural machinery, etc
• Use of flammable gases, such as acetylene, for welding
• Handling and storage of waste dusts in a range of manufacturing industries
• Handling and storage of flammable wastes including fuel oils
• Hot work on tanks or drums that have contained flammable material
• Work activities that could release naturally occurring methane
• Dusts produced in the mining of coal
• Use of flammable solvents in pathology and school laboratories
• Storage/display of flammable goods, such as paints, in the retail sector
• Filling, storage and handling of aerosols with flammable propellants, such as LPG
• Transport of flammable liquids in containers around the workplace
• Deliveries from road tankers, such as petrol or bulk powders
• Chemical manufacture, processing and warehousing
• Petrochemical industry - onshore and offshore

Persons protected

DSEAR is intended to protect not only employees at the workplace, but also any other person whether at work or not who may be put at risk by dangerous substances. This includes employees working for other employers, visitors to the site, members of the public, etc.

However, when considering arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies and the provision of information, instruction and training, employers only have duties to persons who are at their workplace.

Risk Assessment

DSEAR requires employers (or self-employed persons) to: -

• Carry out a risk assessment before commencing any new work activity involving dangerous substances.
• In the case of an employer with 5 or more employees, to record the significant findings of the assessment as soon as is practicable after the assessment is made, including:
  • The measures (technical and organisational) taken to eliminate and/or reduce risk,
  • Sufficient information to show that the workplace and work equipment will be safe during operation and maintenance including:
    • Details of any hazardous zones
    • Any special measures to ensure co-ordination of safety measures and procedures, when employers share a workplace,
      (a. and b. apply from 1 July 2003)
• Arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies,
• Measures taken to inform, instruct and train employees.

The risk assessment required by DSEAR is an identification and careful examination of the dangerous substances present in the workplace, the work activities involving those substances and how they might fail dangerously so as to give rise to fire, explosion and similar events with the potential to harm employees and the public. Its purpose is to enable employers to decide what they need to do to eliminate or reduce to as far as is reasonably practicable the safety risks from dangerous substances.

The risk assessment is required to be carried out before commencing any new work activity and DSEAR also requires that the measures identified as necessary by the risk assessment are implemented before the work commences.

Safety Measures

Employers are required to ensure that the safety risks from dangerous substances are either eliminated or reduced to as far as is reasonably practicable. Where it is not reasonably practicable to eliminate risks, employers are required to take, so far as is reasonably practicable, measures to control risks and measures to mitigate the detrimental effects of a fire or explosion or similar event.

DSEAR therefore reflects the well-understood safety hierarchy of:

• Elimination, or
• Control and Mitigation

Elimination is the best solution and involves replacing a dangerous substance with a substance or process that totally eliminates the risk. In practice this is difficult to achieve and it is more likely that it will be possible to replace the dangerous substance with one that is less hazardous (e.g. by replacing a low flashpoint solvent with a high flashpoint one) or to design the process so that it is less dangerous - for example, by reducing quantities of substances in the process, this is known as process intensification (see HSE publication '7 Steps to successful substitution of hazardous substances', series number HSG 110 which can be purchased from HSE Books, and the DTI Guide on 'Process Intensification' which can be obtained from the DTI Publications Unit). However care must be taken whilst carrying out these steps so as to ensure that no other new safety or health risks are created or increased.

Control measures

DSEAR requires that control measures are applied in the following priority order consistent with the risk assessment and appropriate to the nature of the activity or operation:

• Reduce the quantity of dangerous substances to a minimum
• Avoid or minimise releases
• Control releases at source
• Prevent the formation of an explosive atmosphere
• Collect, contain and remove any releases to a safe place (e.g. by ventilation)
• Avoid ignition sources
• Avoid adverse conditions (e.g. exceeding the limits of temperature or control settings) that could lead to danger
• Keep incompatible substances apart

Mitigation

DSEAR requires that mitigation measures consistent with the risk assessment and appropriate to the nature of the activity or operation are applied including:

• Reducing the numbers of employees exposed
• Providing plant which is explosion resistant
• Providing explosion suppression or explosion relief equipment
• Taking measures to control or minimise the spread of fires or explosions
• Providing suitable Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

DSEAR also specifies that the measures taken to achieve the elimination or the reduction of risk should include:

• Design, construction and maintenance of the workplace (e.g. fire-resistance, explosion relief)
• Design, assembly, construction, installation, provision, use and maintenance of suitable work processes, including all relevant plant, equipment, control and protection systems

The application of appropriate systems of work including: written instructions, permits to work and other procedural systems of organising work

DSEAR also requires the identification of hazardous contents of containers and pipes.
Many will already be marked or labelled under existing EC legislation. For those that are not 'identification' could include training, information or verbal instruction, but some may require labelling, marking or warning signs.

Places where Explosive Atmospheres can occur

In workplaces where explosive atmospheres may occur you should ensure that:

• Areas where hazardous explosive atmospheres may occur are classified into zones based on their likelihood and persistence;
• Areas classified into zones are protected from sources of ignition by selecting equipment and protective systems meeting the requirements of the Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 1996, although equipment already in use before 1 July 2003 can continue to be used indefinitely provided the risk assessment shows it is safe to do so;
• Where" sign at their points of entry;
• Where employees work in zones areas they are provided with appropriate clothing that does not create a risk of an electrostatic discharge igniting the explosive atmosphere;
• Before coming into operation for the first time, areas where explosive atmospheres may be present are confirmed as being safe (verified) by a person (or organisation) competent in the field of explosion protection. The person carrying out the verification must be competent to consider the particular risks at the workplace and the adequacy of control and other measures put in place.

These additional requirements come into effect at different times depending on when the workplace is first used: necessary, areas classified into zones are marked with a specified "EX

This part of DSEAR complements the Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 1996. There is a webpage giving further information at http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/dsear.htm

Arrangements to deal with accidents, incidents and emergencies

DSEAR requires that employers make arrangements to protect employees (and others who are at the workplace) in the event of accidents etc. The provisions build on existing requirements in Regulation 8 of the Management Regulations and require employers to make arrangements including:

• Suitable warning (including visual and audible alarms) and communication systems
• Escape facilities - if required by the risk assessment
• Emergency procedures to be followed in the event of an emergency
• Equipment and clothing for essential personnel dealing with the incident
• Practice drills
• Making information on the emergency procedures available to employees
• Contacting the emergency services to advise them that information on emergency procedures is available (and providing them with any information they consider necessary)

The scale and nature of the emergency arrangements should be proportionate to the risks.

These requirements clarify what already needs to be done in relation to the safety management of dangerous substances and will not require any duties in addition to those already present in existing legislation.

Information instruction and training

Employers are required to provide employees and other people at the workplace who might be at risk with suitable information, instruction and training on precautions and actions they need to take to safeguard themselves and others, including:

• Names of the substances in use and risks they present
• Access to any relevant safety data sheet
• Details of legislation that applies to the hazardous properties of those substances
• The significant findings of the risk assessment

Employers should also make information available to employee representatives.

Information, instruction and training need only be provided to non-employees where it is required to ensure their safety. Where it is provided, it should be in proportion to the level and type of risk.

Much of this is already required by existing health and safety legislation.

Modernising Petrol Legislation

Petroleum legislation is being modernised as part of the DSEAR package. Previously the keeping of petrol was controlled by licenses issued under the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928. However, the new DSEAR Regulations apply to petrol and therefore duplicate these controls. Accordingly DSEAR removes licensing requirements for petrol, except for petrol that is being kept for dispensing into vehicles (retail and non-retail). Work is continuing to further modernise the petrol regime. More information can be found on HSE's webpage.

Advice for small and medium-sized business

A leaflet entitled 'Fire and Explosion - How safe is your workplace' is available which provides advice for employers (particularly those with small and medium-sized businesses), and the self-employed, about the basic requirements of DSEAR.

A free copy of the leaflet (reference INDG370) can be obtained from HSE Books.

Enforcement of DSEAR

Enforcement of DSEAR will be by:

(1) HSE or Local Authorities depending on the allocation of premises under the Health and Safety (Enforcing Authority) Regulations 1998. In the main, HSE will enforce at industrial premises and Local Authorities (Environmental Health Officers) elsewhere e.g. in retail premises.

(2) Fire Brigades at most premises subject to DSEAR in relation to general fire precautions such as means of escape.

(3) At retail petrol filling stations in relation to storage and dispensing of petrol, LPG and any other fuel subject to DSEAR - Petroleum Licensing Authorities.

Annex 1

Determination of the presence of dangerous substances

You will need to carry out the following two steps: -

1. Check whether the substances have been classified under the Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/1689) (CHIP 3) as: explosive, oxidising, extremely flammable, highly flammable or flammable;

2. Assess the physical and chemical properties of the substance or preparation and the circumstances of the work involving those substances to see if that can create a safety risk to persons from an energetic event.

Step 1: When dangerous substances are used at work, suppliers must provide you with safety data sheets and the safety data sheet should tell you whether the chemical is classified under the CHIP Regulations as flammable, oxidising …etc. Another source of information is to look in HSE's Approved Supply List. This is a list prepared by HSE, which lists many commonly used substances and their classification. If a substance or preparation is classified as explosive, oxidising, extremely flammable, highly flammable or flammable then it is a dangerous substance.

Step 2: You will need to carry out a risk analysis using information about the chemical and physical properties of the substance and the circumstances of the work to determine whether a dangerous substance is present.

The key point here is that it is the combination of the properties of the substance and the circumstances of the work process that needs to be assessed. For example diesel (or other high flash point) oils are not classified as "flammable" under CHIP, yet if they are heated to a sufficiently high temperature in a process can create a fire risk. In these circumstances the diesel oil becomes a dangerous substance for the purposes of DSEAR. On the other hand if diesel oil is only present in storage at ambient temperatures it is not a dangerous substance for DSEAR purposes.

Other examples include substances, which decompose or react exothermically when mixed with certain other substances - e.g. peroxides. Wood, flour and many other dusts are, depending on the circumstances of the work, also dangerous substances for DSEAR purposes. This is because when the dust is mixed in a cloud with air it can in certain circumstances be ignited and explode. Work activities involving grinding or machining are particularly prone to this risk.

If the assessment shows that there is a safety risk to persons arising from a fire, explosion or other energy-releasing event then the substance is a dangerous substance for DSEAR purposes.

1. HSE website:

2. http://www.hse.gov.uk/fireandexplosion/dsear.htm

3. Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR)

4. Explosive Atmospheres Directive

5. Explosive atmospheres and ATEX

For further information please call (023) 9254 5505, 5506 or 5507  during office hours or call at the Town Hall, High Street, Gosport, Hampshire PO12 1EB.

Alternatively e-mail ehs@gosport.gov.uk any time