Yusuf Mert Sönmez
Mehmet Dilaver
Fikret Ertan Bütün
ProSCon Mühendislik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.
ATEX studies are conducted in industrial establishments to prevent and mitigate explosions caused by flammable liquids, vapors, flammable gases, and combustible dust. In this study, an industry-specific analysis was performed on 64 different organizations in the pharmaceutical, food, chemical, energy, cement, foundry, and oil and gas industries. The analysis focused on equipment that could potentially cause fires and explosions, errors in the current usage of such equipment, equipment inspections, inspection errors, and maintenance errors. Findings revealed that in 73% of the facilities, inspections of Ex-proof equipment were not conducted on time, 62% lacked an inventory assessment of Ex-proof equipment, and 46% of the employees were not knowledgeable about potential explosive environments. Additionally, this study discussed best practice examples and recommended optimal investments for preventing explosions in the industry.
Keywords: ATEX, explosive atmosphere, industrial safety, investment, explosion prevention