What are installations subject to monitoring?
Installations subject to monitoring are
- Steam boilers, pressure vessel installations, filling installations, internally pressurized pipes for hazardous media
- Lift installations
- Installations in potentially explosive atmospheres
Important: For installations operated in potentially explosive atmospheres, employers, must draw up an explosion protection document as per Article 6 within the scope of hazard assessment. The explosion protection document must demonstrate that explosion hazards have been assessed, explosion protection measures taken and potentially explosive atmospheres classified into zones (as per Annex 3 BetrSichV).
- Storage installations with a total volume of more than 10,000 l for flammable, highly flammable or extremely flammable fluids
- Filling installations with a handling volume of more than 1,000 l/h, for flammable, highly flammable or extremely flammable fluids
- Petrol filling stations and airfield refuelling installations
- Discharging stations with a handling volume of more than 1,000l/h, for flammable, highly flammable or extremely flammable fluids
Internally pressurized installations
Installations which involve hazards for employees and third parties due to their internal pressure are classified as installations subject to monitoring by the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (BetrSichV). Internally pressurized installations include steam boilers, pressure vessel installations, filling installations and pipelines for transporting hazardous gases, vapours or liquids. Depending on their classifications, these installations must be tested and inspected by approved bodies or competent persons.
As in previous regulations, under the BetrSichV certain installations may only be operated subject to a permit issued by the competent authority. Essentially, this concerns steam boiler installations in category IV; filling installations used to fill compressed gases into mobile pressure equipment with a capacity of over 10kg/h used to supply other equipment; refuelling stations to supply land-, water- or aircraft with compressed gases; storage and filling installations and refuelling stations for flammable, highly flammable or extremely flammable liquids; and stationary airfield refuelling installations.
Installations subject to monitoring must be inspected prior to being put into service. Within six months after the component has been put into service, the operator must define, on the basis of a hazard assessment, the inspection intervals for recurrent inspections to be carried out by an approved body. The intervals must be reviewed by the approved body and communicated to the competent authority.
The Ordinance defines certain maximum intervals which must not be exceeded and which generally correspond to the standard intervals applicable in the past.
Lift installations
The German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health defines what types of lift are regarded as installations subject to monitoring, and therefore subject to recurrent inspections. Definition of the intervals at which such recurrent inspections are performed is at the discretion of the lift operator. The German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health merely stipulates that lift installations – depending on the type of installation in question - must be subjected to periodic testing and inspection (main inspection) at least every two years with an interim inspection between these times. The German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health defines the
- Lifts covered by the Lift Directive (95/16EC)
- Machinery covered by the Machinery Directive 98/37/EC (Annex IV, A No.16 of the Directive)
- Continuous lifts for persons
- Construction-site hoists also used for lifting persons
- Mill-type rope hoists
Lift installations not used for lifting persons are not considered installations subject to monitoring. Generally, however, they are considered work equipment, and as such must be inspected.
Successfully certified lifts manufactured in line with the Lift Directive need not be inspected before being put into service. Lift installations subject to monitoring covered by the Machinery Directive must still be inspected prior to being put into service. In all cases, operators must communicate inspection intervals which may not exceed the maximum intervals defined in the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health to the authorities. As hitherto, passenger and goods lifts must be inspected every two years. The intervals applicable to interim inspections remain unchanged. Lifts covered by the Machinery Directive must be subjected to recurrent inspections every four years plus the necessary interim inspections in between.
Following modification, lift installations subject to monitoring must be inspected by an approved body. Operators of lift installations must ensure that emergency calls placed from the lift car will be responded to within an appropriate period of time and rescue measures expertly carried out.
Installations in potentially explosive atmospheres
According to the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health, all installations in potentially explosive atmospheres are subject to monitoring. Installations where potentially explosive atmospheres may occur include spray painting facilities, feed silos or waste-water treatment installations. The operator must initiate inspection before the installation is put into service and recurrent inspections. In addition to the explosion protection of electrical equipment, explosion protection of non-electrical equipment must also be covered in the inspection. Storage installations, petrol filling stations, airfield refuelling installations and filling stations must be inspected by an approved body. Other installations may be inspected by competent persons.
Operators of installations in potentially explosive atmospheres must draw up an explosion protection document. For existing installations, this requirement must be complied with by 31 December 2005. The explosion protection document is to systematically evaluate and document the explosion hazards.
The explosion protection document includes: installation assessment, a well-structured inspection plan, measures to protect against explosions, information on and evidence of personnel training. Additionally, zones must be defined and protective measures taken to address all sources of ignition not only electrical ones. The explosion protection document must also include the inspection dates of the installation.
Storage installations
The German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health adopted in particular the provisions addressing explosion protection from the previous German Regulation on Flammable Liquids. Within the scope of classification as an installation subject to monitoring, the minimum total volume of storage facilities was increased from 0l to 10,000l and the minimum handling volume of filling and discharging stations from 0l /h to 1,000 l/h. Excluded from the scope of application are installations for storing flammable fluids with a flashpoint between 55 °C and 100 °C.
Installations for storing flammable, water-soluble fluids e.g. alcohols, acetic acid etc.) and installations for storing "viscous" substances with a flashpoint under or equal to 55°C (e.g. glue, paint etc.) are now also covered by the Ordinance
Some of these plants are subject to a permit issued by the competent authority.