Risk Assessment | DSEAR and ATEX Experts

A DSEAR risk assessment is an evaluation of the likelihood and severity of the hazards presented by dangerous substances in the workplace. The definition of a dangerous substance with some examples can be found here. DSEAR is primarily concerned with the fire and explosion hazards, but an often overlooked requirement is to also assess energy releasing events (such as inert gas cylinders acting as projectiles due to leaks) and corrosion which could lead to a fire, explosion, or energy releasing event.

Regulation 5 of DSEAR has specific requirements for what should be included in a DSEAR risk assessment. The findings must be recorded if there are five or more employees. The assessment must consider the following:

• Hazardous properties of the dangerous substances

• Circumstances of the work

• Effect of existing safeguards and mitigation measures

• Likelihood of an explosive atmosphere being present (typically taken from the Hazardous Area Classification - see here for more details).

• Likelihood of effective ignition sources being present - EN 1127-1 contains 13 ignition categories which are typically used in assessments. ATEX equipment is also considered here - you can learn more about what ATEX markings mean here.

• Anticipated effects of a fire or explosion - this depends on various parameters, such as quantity of the substances, congestion, confinement, and process conditions

• Interconnected equipment and areas where fire or explosions could spread or propagate

• Activities, such as maintenance, where there is potential for high risk - these are usually not covered in a DSEAR assessment as they are task-specific and typically form part of a Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) or Permit to Work (PTW) system on site

An important part of a DSEAR risk assessment is selecting an appropriate Basis of Safety (BoS) for each process (learn more here). The basis of safety essentially defines the principles and control measures used to prevent fire and explosions and is a summary of why the process is safe to operate.

Once the hazardous scenarios have been assessed in line with the requirements of DSEAR, the risks are typically ranked using a risk matrix. The most common is a 5×5 matrix, but other risk matrices can be used. Risk ranking is useful in order to help prioritise which risks should be most urgently addressed, and is typically the main metric for deciding where resources should be allocated. Other factors, such as cost, time, feasibility, and whether the improvement will give other benefits (e.g. ventilation improvements may also help manage COSHH hazards more effectively) will also factor into the risk picture.

Where the risk is deemed to be unacceptable, or a measure which is considered good practice is identified, recommendations are provided to reduce this risk to As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP). To aid prioritisation, we assign a recommendation category in line with the hierarchy in Regulation 6 of DSEAR. This allows for prioritisation of actions (along with risk ranking) in line with DSEAR, so that resources (cost, time, effort) can be targeted at areas which will have the most impact.

DSEAR Dashboard

We collate all our recommendations into a tabulated list which can easily be exported to an action tracker (typically in MS Excel), where owners and deadlines can be assigned. We can also produce a bespoke risk dashboard to help manage the risks and allow direct comparison between different sites or site areas which may share the same capital projects budget. This allows you to track progress, allocate resources to achieve the highest amount of risk reduction with the resources available, and can be easily shared with regulatory bodies and stakeholders to demonstrate a roadmap to compliance.