Albion Valves receives ATEX certification

Albion Valves, a UK valves supplier, has secured ATEX approval across its range of stainless steel valves.

Making safety a priority, ATEX is a directive from the EU which requires member states to comply with a specific set of health and safety regulations, designed to minimise the risk of fire or explosion arising from dangerous substances.

The new directive will become mandatory in April 2016.

The ATEX directive applies to electrical and mechanical equipment intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres, including mines, factories, sewage plants,  and biomass, oil and gas, corrosive metals, dusts, and chemicals facilities.

Having received the ATEX approval, Albion’s stainless steel valve range is certified for use in potentially explosive environments and guaranteed not to spark if they come into contact with a combustible foreign body.

The ATEX directive also requires the traceability of products including valves and fittings to be ensured throughout the whole supply chain ensuring that manufacturers, authorised representatives, importers, and distributors all guarantee that the product they place on the market complies with this directive.

‘Ensuring that products and systems meet the requirements of the ATEX Directive can be a complex and time consuming process. We have taken this headache away from our distributors by doing the research and securing approvals well in advance of the new legislation,’ says Les Littlewood, sales director, at Albion Valves (UK).

Legislation enables the free trading of ATEX products within the European Economic Area by removing the need for separate documentation and testing for each individual European market.

Manufacturers may use a single CE mark on their products to show compliance with this and any other relevant directive.