European Communities (Equipment and Protective Systems Intended For Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres) Regulations, 1999.

Statutory Instrument No.83/1999
Date30 March 1999

I, MARY HARNEY, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive 94/9/EC of 23 March, 1994,1 hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres) Regulations, 1999.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 30th day of March, 1999.

2. (1) In these Regulations, except where the context otherwise requires—

“the Authority” means the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health established under section 15 (1) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989);

“authorised officer” means a person authorised in accordance with Regulation 13;

“CE conformity marking” shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 8;

“certificate of conformity” shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 6;

“conformity assessment procedures” shall be construed in accordance with Regulation 7;

“the Council Directive” means Council Directive 94/9/EC of 23 March, 1994;

“EC declaration of conformity” means a declaration set out in the form specified in the First Schedule;

“essential health and safety requirem” means the requirements specified in the Second Schedule;

“manufacturer” means the manufacturer of the equipment, a protective system, a device or a component;

“manufacturer's representative” means the authorised representative of a manufacturer established within the European Community;

“Member State” means a Member of the European Communities and a reference to a Member State includes a reference to an EEA State;

“the Minister” means the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment;

“notified body” means a body appointed in accordance with Regulation 9;

“place on the market” means supply, sell, offer for sale, expose for sale or have in possession for sale; place on the market under a rental agreement, lease agreement, hire purchase agreement or any other type of agreement and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

“the Regulations of 1981” means the European Communities (Electrical Equipment for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres) Regulations, 1981 ( S.I. No. 61 of 1981 );

“the Regulations of 1986” means the European Communities (Electrical Equipment for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres) (Amendment) Regulations, 1986 ( S.I. No. 244 of 1986 );

“the Regulations of 1991” means the European Communities (Electrical Equipment for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres) (Amendment) Regulations, 1991 ( S.I. No. 289 of 1991 );

“the Regulations of 1998” means the European Communities (Electrical Equipment for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres) (Amendment) Regulations, 1998 ( S.I. No. 355 of 1998 );

“responsible person” has the meaning assigned to it by Regulation 11 (7).

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations and is also used in the Council Directive has, unless the context otherwise requires, the same meaning in these Regulations as it has in the Council Directive.

(3) In these Regulations—

(a) A reference to a Regulation or a Schedule is a reference to a Regulation of or Schedule to these Regulations unless it is indicated that reference to some other Regulations is intended, and

(b) A reference to a paragraph or a subparagraph, is a reference to the paragraph or the subparagraph of the provision in which the reference occurs unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.

3. (1) Subject to Regulation 4 these Regulations shall apply to—

(a) equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres, and

(b) devices and components,

which are placed on the market on or after 1st day of March, 1996.

(2) These Regulations shall not apply to—

(a) medical devices intended for use in a medical environment,

(b) equipment and protective systems where the explosion hazard results exclusively from the presence of explosive substances or unstable chemical substances,

(c) equipment intended for use in domestic and non-commercial environments where potentially explosive atmospheres may only rarely be created, solely as a result of the accidental leakage of fuel gas.

(d) personal protective equipment covered by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations, 1993 ( S.I. No. 44 of 1993 ), apply,

(e) seagoing vessels and mobile offshore units together with equipment on board such vessels or units,

(f) means of transport including vehicles and their trailers intended solely for transporting passengers by air or by road, rail or water networks, as well as means of transport in so far as such means are designed for transporting goods by air, by public road or rail networks or by water, but vehicles intended for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere are not excluded,

(g) the equipment covered by Article 223 (1) (b) of the Treaty establishing the European Community, and

(h) equipment, protective systems, or devices shown at trade fairs, exhibitions or demonstrations which do not conform with the provisions of these Regulations if a notice clearly specified that such equipment, protective system or device does not so conform and is not for sale until it has been brought into such conformity and that for the time that it is on show adequate safety measures are taken.

4. (1) These Regulations shall not apply to equipment or a protective system—

(a) placed on the market in the European Community on or before 30th day of June, 2003, and

(b) that complies with any health and safety provisions required for such equipment or protective systems placed on the market in the State on the 23rd day of March, 1994.

(2) Paragraph (1) above does not apply in the case of equipment or a protective system which—

(a) unless required to bear the CE marking pursuant to any other Community obligation, bears the CE marking or an inscription liable to be confused therewith, or

(b) bears or is accompanied by any other indication, howsoever expressed, that it complies with the Council Directive.

(3) In these Regulations, “health and safety provisions” means any requirement imposed by an enactment which has the same, or substantially the same, effect as any of the essential health and safety requirements specified in these Regulations and which would, but for the provisions of this Regulation, be applicable to that equipment or protective system for the purposes of complying with these Regulations.

5. (1) A person shall not place on the market or put into service any equipment, protective system or a device unless such equipment, protective system or device—

(a) complies with the relevant essential health and safety requirements specified for such equipment, protective system or device concerned having regard to its intended use,

(b) has been examined in accordance with the appropriate conformity assessment procedure for such equipment, protective system, or device specified in Regulation 7,

(c) has the CE marking affixed to such equipment, protective system, or device in accordance with Regulation 8 and the First Schedule, and

(d) has an EC declaration of conformity issued in respect of the equipment, protective system, or device.

(2) Equipment, a protective system or device shall not be placed on the market and put into service unless when it—

(a) is properly installed and maintained,

(b) is used for its intended purpose

it does not endanger the health and safety of persons and, where appropriate, domestic animals or property.

(3) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), any equipment, protective system, device or component to which these Regulations apply that has been constructed in accordance with a national standard that—

(a) transposes a harmonised standard, and a reference for such transposition has been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, and

(b) concerns one or more of the essential health and safety requirements,

shall be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, to comply with the relevant essential health and safety requirements concerned for such equipment, protective system, device or component having regard to its intended use.

(4) A certificate of conformity to the harmonised standards specified in the Regulations of 1981, and obtained in accordance with the procedures to obtaining such certificates shall continue to be used for the purposes of these Regulations until the 30th day of June 2003, unless such certificate expires before that date, in respect of electrical equipment to which the Regulations of 1981 apply, that conforms to the type of electrical equipment to which the certificate applies.

(5) Where—

(a) in relation to equipment, a protective system or a device—

(i) an EC declaration of conformity has been issued by the manufacturer or such manufacturer's representative containing the matters specified in the First Schedule, and

(ii) the CE conformity marking is affixed,

such equipment, protective system or device shall be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, to comply with these Regulations,

(b) in relation to a component, a certificate of conformity has been issued in accordance with these Regulations, such component shall be presumed, unless the contrary is shown, to comply with these Regulations.

(6) A person shall not place on the market, or, where appropriate, withdraw from the market, or shall not put into service or use any equipment or protective system in respect of which an authorised officer is of the opinion that such equipment or protective system—

(a) bears the conformity marking, and

(b) is used in accordance with its intended use, and

(c) is likely to endanger the safety of persons and, where...

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