Risk evaluation in workplaces characterized by potential explosion hazards

The Directive 99/92/EC deals with the safety and health protection of workers potentially exposed at explosive atmospheres. Its application requires the assessment of specific risks due to the presence of potentially explosive atmospheres. These can generally be originated by releases of flammable substances and are typical of industries classified at major hazard, they often could be generated also in other industries where flammable materials are handling. Risk assessment of explosive atmospheres is required by the legislation. In this article a quantitative approach is presented. The paper describes the main aspects of the methodology, based on a probabilistic risk assessment, its application to a case-study and finally some criteria to judge the acceptability of the risk