AdCo ATEX group meeting

On Thursday, June 30, the 32nd meeting of the ATEX AdCo group - the European working group for administrative cooperation in the area of Directive 2014/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 26, 2014 on the harmonization of the laws of the Member States relating to equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres - was held.

The meeting was led by Roman Sąsiadek - deputy director of the HState Mining Authority's Department of Energomechanics, who serves as chairman of the ATEX AdCo group. The meeting was attended by representatives of the market surveillance authorities of the various countries of the European Community, representatives of the European Commission's Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL), a representative of the European Notified Bodies Group (ExNBG) for the ATEX Directive (2014/34/EU) and invited experts in the area covered by the group’s activities.

Among the issues discussed during the meeting were:

1.  cable inlets,
2. electronic portable equipment,
3. assessing the risk of explosion initiation due to the operation of mechanical equipment in hazardous areas,
4. the risk of employees using medical equipment in hazardous areas,
5. marketing portable hydraulic or pneumatic powered tools that do not have an ignition source but can create an effective ignition source during use (saws, grinders, etc.),
6. the rules for labeling products placed on the market,
7. modernization of marketed products by replacing them with a different type of cell battery.

According to Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on market surveillance and product compliance and amending Directive 2004/42/EC and Regulations (EC) No. 765/2008 and (EU) No. 305/2011, the group's tasks are as follows:

• facilitating the uniform application of EU harmonization legislation within the scope of its competence in order to increase the effectiveness of market surveillance throughout the internal market,
• promotion of communication between market surveillance authorities and the EU Product Compliance Network and deepening of mutual trust between market surveillance authorities,
• establishing and coordinating joint projects, such as cross-border joint market surveillance activities,
• developing common practices and methods for effective market surveillance,
• informing each other on national market surveillance methods and activities, and developing and promoting best practices,
• identifying market surveillance issues of common interest and proposing common approaches to be adopted,
• facilitating sector-specific product assessments, including risk assessments, test methods and results, recent scientific advances and other aspects relevant to control activities.