Intrinsic safety certificates

ATEX is a commonly used synonym for the ATEX guidelines of the European Union. The name is derived from the French term ATmosphère EXplosive. The directive encompasses explosion protection guidelines 2014/34/EU for devices and 1999/92/EG for operations. ATEX guidelines are devised by the Director General of the EU commission Enterprise and Industry in cooperation with the member states, standardization organizations (CEN, CENELEC) and so called known organizations such as BAM, PTB, or TUEV to name examples from Germany.

IECEx is an internationally used process to certify electrical equipment used in hazardous locations. The code defines a system to classify locations prone to explosive atmospheres caused by gases, dusts, or fibers for example. The main goal of the International Electrotechnical Commission IEC with the IECEx regulation is to reach global harmonization of codes governing use of electrical apparatus in hazardous locations. IEC promotes mutual acceptance of evaluations and reports among the testing labs and certifying bodies.

The MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) is an US agency, which monitors the compliance of safety and health standards to reduce accidents, to minimize health hazards and to promote improved safety and health conditions in the nation's mines.

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SIL considers functional safety determine the potential risk for people, systems, devices and processes in case of a malfunction. Basis for the specification, design, and operation of safety instrumented systems is IEC standard 61508. The goal is to assess the risk and to reduce it by use of suitable measures. The standard knows four levels, SIL 1-SIL 4, characterizing safety levels for electrical, electronic and programmable electronic devices, often referred to as E/E/PE. The SIL level is a measure for the safety function in case of a fault and answers the question:"What is the probability of the system still functioning correctly in case of a fault?"

Brazil's INMETRO (Institute of Metrology, Standardisation and Industrial Quality) is the government body responsible for the implementation of measurement, safety and quality standards for electrical and electronic products. It guides the activities of accreditation, inspection, testing and certification bodies in the country.

The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) aims to contribute to the national economy by maintaining and improving the safety and health conditions at work through the efficient implementation of projects such as research and development, promotion of industrial accident prevention technologies, provision of technical assistance and training on occupational safety and health, inspection on dangerous facilities and equipment.

CSA is a global provider of testing and certification services. CSA is also on the OSHA list of nationally recognized testing laboratories, NRTL.

UL is an independent organization testing and certifying product with regards to safety. UL tests and evaluates compliance of products, components, materials, and systems against specific requirements. As a result the UL mark can be carried as long as the standards are kept to. UL is one of the OSHA endorsed testing labs. OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and maintains a list of labs called NRTL, short for nationally recognized testing laboratories.

IP66 stands for Ingress Protection and denotes the protection of the device against environmental factors, dust and rain for example, as well as protection of living beings against dangers of touching high voltage circuits for example. The first digit categorizes ingress of solid objects, the second ingress of water:

• IP6x = dust proof
• IPx6 = water jet proof
  (with specifies water pressure etc.)