CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS - Coke Oven Managers Association

84 THE COKE OVEN MANAGERS’ASSOCIATIONNow that the Dawes Lane Coke Ovens area has been assessed and certainrequirements established, departmental managers need to ensure that allelectrical and mechanical equipment within their identified hazardous areas areof a suitable category and arrange replacements where necessary. Although thecompliance date of 30 June 2003 is for all new equipment commissioned orinstalled after that date, it would be wise to ensure any replacement equipmentinstalled before then meets the new standards.As well as the necessity to ensure equipment in the zoned areas complieswith present and imminent regulations, there is a duty to ensure that access andworking procedures in these areas are prepared, and ongoing maintenance iscarried out to the required standard.Finally, the ATEX Directive makes it a legal requirement that the'Explosion Protection Document', produced to include all details of theapproach to the hazardous area classification, is updated annually.