Navigating hazardous area safety requirements
Where safety and compliance in hazardous environments are concerned, there are a lot of acronyms relating to standards, directives, and regulations.
To those unfamiliar with how the whole legislative landscape operates, it can easily and quickly become confusing. To help tackle the minefield, safety compliance expert and AEMT lecturer, Peter Rawlinson, looks at the key requirements you may come across concerning hazardous environments, what they cover and how they relate to each other.
Before we get into specifics, it might be helpful to outline how different types of requirements compare briefly.
A Standard is a technical specification covering aspects such as dimensions, capacity, ratings etc. It is not a legal requirement but is widely considered best practice.
A Regulation in EU terms is a piece of law universally applicable to all EU member states.
An EU Directive is a legislative act outlining objectives that all EU member states must translate into their national legislation.
A Statutory Instrument is similar to an EU Directive and is the principal form in which...
To those unfamiliar with how the whole legislative landscape operates, it can easily and quickly become confusing. To help tackle the minefield, safety compliance expert and AEMT lecturer, Peter Rawlinson, looks at the key requirements you may come across concerning hazardous environments, what they cover and how they relate to each other.
Before we get into specifics, it might be helpful to outline how different types of requirements compare briefly.
A Standard is a technical specification covering aspects such as dimensions, capacity, ratings etc. It is not a legal requirement but is widely considered best practice.
A Regulation in EU terms is a piece of law universally applicable to all EU member states.
An EU Directive is a legislative act outlining objectives that all EU member states must translate into their national legislation.
A Statutory Instrument is similar to an EU Directive and is the principal form in which...
