Someone has asked for it
An insurer, a customer audit or the HSE has asked to see your DSEAR assessment and you do not have one that holds up.
Hazardous area classification, an ATEX equipment audit and an action plan ranked by risk. York Green works in explosive atmospheres across chemical manufacturing, food production, fuel handling and process industry.
Twenty minutes, no charge. Or call 07949 084819.
16+ years DSEAR and ATEX
Consultants in Cheshire and the West Midlands
Professional indemnity insured
Who this is for
Most DSEAR enquiries arrive for one of three reasons. If you recognise yours here, the Greenlight Call will tell you what you need and roughly what it will cost.
An insurer, a customer audit or the HSE has asked to see your DSEAR assessment and you do not have one that holds up.
You hold flammable liquids, gases or combustible dust and no one has ever drawn the zones or checked the equipment inside them.
You have an assessment that lists hazards at length and never tells you what to fix, in what order, by when.
What you get
Every finding carries an owner, a priority and a timescale. The report is built to be handed to a maintenance team, an insurer or an HSE inspector without translation.
Does it apply to us
The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 apply wherever dangerous substances are present, or are generated by the work, and could put people at risk of fire or explosion. How far the assessment goes follows the substances, the quantities and the process. These are the premises and processes we are asked about most.
Not sure whether it applies to your site? Say so on the Greenlight Call. If the honest answer is that you do not need a DSEAR assessment, we will tell you that instead of quoting for one. Sites that need both often have the DSEAR assessment and the fire risk assessment carried out in a single visit.
How it works
The same sequence on every site, whether it is a single plant room or a multi-process manufacturing operation.
Twenty minutes on the phone to scope the site, the substances and the equipment involved.
Confirmed in writing, with the turnaround date, before anyone comes to site.
Half a day for a single plant room or fuel installation. Up to two days for a multi-process site.
We walk you through the findings and what to tackle first, in what order, by when.
What it costs
£3,000 to £15,000+
Depending on site complexity, the number of dangerous substances and the zoning required. That range is published so you can budget before you enquire. Multi-site discounts are available. Scope, fixed price and turnaround date are agreed in writing after the Greenlight Call and before anyone comes to site. No hourly billing, no open-ended day rate, no extras added afterwards.
How the work is delivered
Assessments are carried out by professionally qualified assessors working to a single documented method, with scoping and technical sign-off held centrally. You get the same standard whoever attends.
Every assessment follows the same procedure, so two assessors produce the same report on the same site.
Every report is reviewed and signed off by a Chartered practitioner before it reaches you.
Area classification drawings are produced to the ATEX zone definitions for your site, rather than adapted from a generic set.
Recommendations you can put into practice, sized to the risk rather than to worst-case theory.
What this assessment is written to
Assessments are carried out by professionally qualified assessors and technically reviewed before the report reaches you. Between them our assessors bring 25+ years in health, safety, fire and environmental management, including 16+ years of DSEAR and ATEX work across chemical manufacturing, food production, logistics and high-hazard process industries. Registrations and CVs are available on request.
Proof
“York Green brought clarity to a complex environment. Their site work was professional, their report clear and practical, and their recommendations have given us real confidence in how we manage fire and explosion risks.”
Independently assessed
Straight answers
The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 require employers to assess and control the risks from substances that could cause a fire, an explosion or a similar energetic event. A dangerous substance under DSEAR covers flammable liquids and solvents, flammable gases including LPG and natural gas, combustible dusts including flour, grain, wood and metal dusts, explosive substances and oxidising substances. If any of those are present at your workplace, even in small quantities, DSEAR applies. There are very few exemptions, and not knowing about the regulations does not reduce the duty.
Yes. DSEAR 2002 places a legal duty on employers to assess any workplace where dangerous substances are present. It is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive, which can issue improvement notices and prohibition notices and can prosecute. The assessment also has to be reviewed whenever the workplace, the substances or the processes change significantly.
Zoning is part of it. DSEAR is the UK regulation that places the duty on you. ATEX supplies the technical framework used to meet that duty, particularly hazardous area classification and equipment selection. DSEAR sets the duties you have to meet. The hazardous-area and equipment standards then shape how classified areas, and the equipment inside them, are designed and managed. Since the UK left the EU, DSEAR remains UK law and the equivalent UKEX framework carries the equipment standards.
It divides the workplace into zones according to how likely an explosive atmosphere is to be present. For gases, vapours and mists: zone 0 where it is present continuously or for long periods, zone 1 where it is likely in normal operation, zone 2 where it is not likely in normal operation but may occur. For combustible dusts the equivalents are zones 20, 21 and 22. Once the zones are set, any equipment operating inside them has to be suitable for that zone. The drawings record where the boundaries fall and form a large part of your compliance evidence.
Yes. Drawings are produced as part of the assessment, or your existing drawings are reviewed and corrected where they no longer match the site.
Yes, and one does not replace the other. A fire risk assessment covers general fire safety: means of escape, detection, alarm systems and the risk to occupants. DSEAR deals with the substances that could cause a fire or explosion in the first place, and goes further by requiring hazardous area classification, an assessment of ignition sources and a review of whether the installed equipment suits the zone. The two overlap on most sites, so we carry them out in a single visit where that works.
Whenever there is reason to think it is no longer valid. That means a change in the substances or the quantities held, new processes or equipment, a near miss or an incident, or a significant change to the layout of the site. Many organisations also review every three to five years as a matter of good practice. We can carry out periodic review visits to keep the documentation current.
DSEAR requires a competent person: someone with the knowledge, skills, training and experience to identify and assess the risks from dangerous substances. There is no single mandatory qualification. In practice competence is shown through formal health and safety qualifications, specialist DSEAR and ATEX training and a record of assessments in comparable environments. York Green assessments are carried out by professionally qualified assessors, with scoping and technical sign-off held by a Chartered practitioner.
Half a day for a single plant room or fuel installation. Up to two days for a multi-process manufacturing site. It is agreed on the Greenlight Call, so there is no open-ended day rate.
The published range is £3,000 to £15,000+, depending on the substances, the number of processes and the zoning required. You get a fixed figure in writing after the Greenlight Call. Multi-site discounts are available.
Consultants are based in Cheshire and the West Midlands, and most of our work sits in the corridor between them: Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, the North West and Merseyside, Shropshire and the Midlands, and across into Yorkshire. Beyond that corridor we work nationwide, and have delivered assessments as far as London, Lincoln and the South Coast. Wherever the site is, the price you are quoted after the Greenlight Call is the price.
There is a DSEAR checklist and a guide to the zones in our free resource area.
Next step
Five boxes, about a minute. Every enquiry is read by a consultant rather than a call centre, and we come back to you within one working day with a scope and a fixed price. If the honest answer is that you do not need a DSEAR assessment, we will tell you that instead of quoting for one.
Would rather talk now? Call 07949 084819 or email enquiries@yorkgreen.uk.
We reply within one working day.