Custom explosion safety and zoning software development
For most companies, the explosion safety document is a report from a consultancy. It was correct on the day it was delivered. Since then a pump has been replaced, an extraction point moved and a storage area relocated, and nobody has picked the document up again. The question is not whether you have a document, but whether it still describes your installation.
Where the document and practice part ways
The obligation derives from Directive 1999/92/EC, commonly known as ATEX 153, which is implemented in the Netherlands through the Arbobesluit (Working Conditions Decree). The document must contain at least four things: an assessment of the risks, the classification into hazardous zones, the technical and organisational measures that follow from it, and information for the people who work there. It is therefore not a report but a justification that ties those four elements together.
The zone classification is the linchpin. For gases or vapours the zones are 0, 1 and 2; for dusts they are 20, 21 and 22, running from almost always present to rare and short-lived. That classification determines what equipment may be installed: Directive 2014/34/EU, known as ATEX 114, sets equipment categories, with category 1 corresponding to zones 0 and 20, category 2 to zones 1 and 21, and category 3 to zones 2 and 22. If a zone shifts, so do the requirements for everything within it.
This is exactly where things go wrong. The zone classification sits in a drawing held by a consultant, the equipment list lives in a maintenance system, and the measures are in a procedures manual. Three places that change independently of one another. After a renovation, anyone wanting to know whether the blower in that corner still has the right category has to place three sources side by side and hope they are equally up to date.
If you work with substances on the list of substances of very high concern, a separate information obligation with a reduction target also applies. Since November 2024, all PFAS fall under this; see the app for SVHC and PFAS registration.
Alongside the explosion safety document, an SVHC information obligation may apply to the same substances. We cover that on the page about software for the SVHC inventory.
How we build this
The link between zone and equipment is the heart of it. Everything else follows from it.
Each zone receives its own record with its class, its boundaries and the justification for that class. A drawing is a representation, not a source.
Each item of equipment in a zone is given its category, marking and inspection status. The system checks these against the zone in which it is located and flags any combination that does not comply.
A measure without the risk it addresses cannot be properly assessed. We record that relationship, so that when something changes you can see which measures change with it.
A replacement, renovation or change of product puts the affected zones up for review. Without that step, the document goes out of date unnoticed, which is precisely what is happening now.
What the software actually does
The register of zones with their equipment carries everything. What else you need depends on how often your installation changes.
Zones with their justification
Each zone with its class, boundaries and the reason that class was assigned. In a discussion with the inspectorate, that justification is the conversation, not the drawing.
Category checked against the zone
The system knows the zone in which a piece of equipment is located and the category it holds. Category 3 equipment in a zone 1 surfaces as an alert, rather than something someone has to notice.
Inspections and tests with end dates
Explosion-protected equipment requires periodic inspection. Those deadlines lapse without anything breaking, so without monitoring you only find out during an audit.
The document as a composition, not a file
The four mandatory components are built from current data. What you print is the state of things today, not the last time someone updated a text.
Changes that affect the document
A reported change to the installation puts the affected zones and equipment under review, and states who needs to assess it and by when.
Connecting to your maintenance system
Equipment is often already recorded in a maintenance system. We retrieve that data through integrations, so that two separate lists don't emerge.
Who we build for
Explosion risk is not limited to chemicals. Four situations where it arises. Checks on the floor run through the ATEX app.
Process and chemical industry
Many zones, a lot of equipment and frequent changes to the installation. The challenge isn't drawing up the document but keeping up with change. See also software for the chemical sector.
Businesses with dust explosion risk
Flour, sugar, milk powder, wood dust and metal dust all create dust zones. These are more often overlooked than gas zones, because there's no tank or pipe involved.
Installers and maintenance contractors
You work on customer sites with different zone classifications. Knowing which category is permitted where, before you bring anything in, saves an aborted job.
Consultancies that prepare documents
You currently deliver a report that goes out of date from day two. An environment where the client keeps changes up to date themselves turns your service from a one-off delivery into a subscription.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
Zone classifications and equipment categories are data, not code. Anything the standard or the installation might change should be configurable and kept with its history.
Why Appfront
The document is a compilation, not a file
We build the four mandatory components as interconnected data. A PDF is the output, not the source.
The zone-against-category check belongs in the system
At present, that check depends on a person comparing three lists side by side. We turn it into an alert.
A change must reach the document
Without that integration, everything quietly goes out of date. We put the affected zones up for review as soon as anything changes in the installation.
We don't build your zone classification
Determining zones is the work of a specialist. We build the place where that outcome lives and keeps pace with change.
Security and privacy
A zone classification together with equipment data shows exactly where your risk lies. That's information you don't want to share more widely than necessary. We set access by role and by site, give an external adviser or installer only their own scope, and record every view.
History matters a great deal for this subject. After an incident, the question isn't how things stand now but how they stood on the day itself, and that question comes from the inspectorate or an insurer. We therefore keep every change to a zone, an item of equipment or a measure with its timestamp and the person responsible, and show an amendment alongside the previous value rather than over it. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside come through our CVD policy.
Frequently asked questions about ATEX software
At least four components: the assessment of explosion risks, the classification into hazardous zones, the technical and organisational measures that follow from it, and information for employees. The obligation is set out in the Dutch Working Conditions Decree (Arbobesluit) and stems from the European directive known as ATEX 153. Check the precise requirements with the Netherlands Labour Inspectorate.
ATEX 153 is aimed at you as the employer: the zones, the measures and the document. ATEX 114 is aimed at the manufacturer of equipment that may be used in such a zone. The two meet at the category: equipment of category 1 may be used in the most hazardous zones, category 3 only in the least hazardous. That link is what a system can monitor.
No, and you wouldn't want it to. Zone classification is work for someone who knows your process, your substances and the standards. We build the place where that outcome is recorded, linked to equipment and re-examined when a refurbishment takes place.
Yes. Dust explosion risk falls under the same obligation, with its own set of zones: 20, 21 and 22. In practice, dust is more often underestimated because no tank or pipe is visible. Flour, sugar, milk powder, wood dust and metal dust are well-known examples.
Usually, and that is often the best route. The equipment is already recorded there with its location and maintenance history. We retrieve that data and add what is currently missing: the zone it sits in and the category that applies there. Two separate lists always drift apart.
A reported change places the affected zones and equipment under review, with a responsible person and a deadline. This is deliberately a workflow rather than a notification, because the core problem is that a change currently does not trigger a reassessment anywhere.
Mainly because the question shifts from searching to showing. An inspector points to a location and asks what is there, which zone it is and why. If that comes from one register, it is a short conversation. If it comes from three sources of different ages, it becomes a long one.
That depends on the number of zones, the size of your equipment inventory and whether there is a maintenance system to connect to. The zone register with the category check is usually quick to put into use and removes the biggest risk; integrations cost more. We give a reasoned estimate after the initial assessment.
Want to know whether your document is still accurate?
Take a piece of equipment that was replaced in the past year and find out which zone it sits in and which category it carries. How long that takes says enough. We build this as a standalone application and as part of a broader custom software project.