Risk assessment of explosive atmospheres in workplaces

The application of the Directive 99/92/EC deals with the safety and health protection of workers potentially exposed to explosive atmospheres and requires the assessment of explosion risks. These can arise by the release of inflammable substances typical of industries classified as major hazards, but they often may be generated in other industries where inflammable materials are handled. Risk assessment of explosive atmospheres is required in both cases, for this purpose, in this article a quantitative approach has been proposed. The paper describes the main aspects of the methodology, based on a probabilistic risk assessment, and finally its application to a case-study