How ATEX Regulations Keep European Workers Safe

Описание: A lot of engineers like to talk smack on draconian safety regulations for slowing down progress and creating unnecessary roadblocks. Spencer Krause is often cynical in this way because his research and development work is usually confined to a lab or a small controlled release under conditions where a failure would not lead to major loss of life, limb, or property.

Stephen Antolich, on the other hand, sends robots into tanks of explosive gas for a living. When you are operating machinery around large amounts of explosive material, all it takes is one misstep to destroy equipment, bring production to a standstill, and kill or injure workers. Even the most seasoned professionals have off-days. When the stakes are this high, regulations and procedure are critical lines of defense against catastrophic failures.

In this sobering and informative conversation, Stephen explains how European ATEX regulations combine worker safety with equipment safety using thorough team checklists.

These strict ATEX checklists ensure worker safety by requiring every team member to agree that all items have been completed before use of any equipment. Equipment safety can also be tested by allowing any team member to re-check any item on the checklist at any time. The combination of safety techniques applied by ATEX is excellent at making potential errors known before they pose an explosive threat.

Check out Stephen's work on explosion-proof inspection robots at http://www.paragonixtek.com/home.html

If you enjoyed this clip, join us for the full episode at    • Видео