DAILY Ex - 22 SEPTEMBER 2026

⚡ DAILY Ex - 22 SEPTEMBER 2026

Explosion Protection | Operational Ex | Global Watch

Today: fatal plant explosion → ATEX legal watch → IECEx scheme governance → combustible-dust testing → new Ex equipment → competence → tomorrow’s industry meeting → one Operational Ex decision.

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▶️ INCIDENT - EXPLOSION AT SALT PLANT KILLS TWO

CURRENT | Mexico - reported 21 September

An explosion followed by fire at PMV’s salt-production facility in Jáltipan, Veracruz, killed two workers and injured another. Initial reporting places the incident at a brine well containing diesel. The investigation is still developing, so the ignition mechanism should not yet be assumed.

Operational Ex lesson:

Do not wait for the final investigation before asking internally: Do we have comparable operations? → Where can fuel be released? → What are the credible ignition sources? → Which preventive barriers are actually verified?

Incident learning starts with similarity, not blame.

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▶️ ATEX LEGAL WATCH - CHECK THE STANDARD, BUT ALSO ITS LEGAL STATUS

CURRENT | European Union

The European Commission’s ATEX harmonised-standards page now records four amendments to Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/1668 since September 2025, including the latest amendment of 3 September 2026.

That latest decision concerns EN IEC 60079-28:2026 - optical radiation.

Why it matters: IEC publication → EN adoption → harmonisation → withdrawal/transition dates are not the same event.

For manufacturers, ExNBs, EPCs and operators: “Latest edition” and “edition currently giving presumption of conformity under ATEX” are different questions.

https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/single-market/goods/european-standards/harmonised-standards/equipment-explosive-atmospheres-atex_en?utm_source=chatgpt.com⁠

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▶️ IECEx - THE SCHEME ITSELF ALSO CHANGES

CURRENT 2026 DOCUMENTATION

IECEx 02:2026, governing the IECEx Certified Equipment Scheme, is now at Edition 9.0. Among other things, it defines how candidate certification bodies are assessed, how findings are handled and how acceptance is decided by the Ex Management Committee.

“It has an IECEx certificate.” IECEx is not simply a logo or database.

Behind the certificate sits a controlled system involving ExCBs, ExTLs, assessment, surveillance, rules and scheme governance.

Operational point: verify the certificate and its scope - not just the mark printed on the equipment.

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▶️ RESEARCH - HOW CERTAIN IS YOUR MIE VALUE?

CURRENT RESEARCH | Journal of Loss Prevention

New research examines something surprisingly practical in Minimum Ignition Energy testing: dust sticking to the Hartmann tube.

Researchers assessed how different cleaning/removal methods influence mass loss, particle-size distribution and ultimately MIE determination.

Why should Operations care?

Because a risk assessment may eventually reduce all that laboratory complexity to: MIE = 10 mJ

That number may then drive decisions about electrostatics, earthing, equipment and operating procedures.

Good engineering asks one more question: Where did the number come from?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0950423026001932

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▶️ COMPETENCE - KNOWLEDGE MUST MATCH THE TASK

IECEx CoPC | frequently misunderstood

IECEx competence requirements distinguish very different activities: Ex003 installation / Ex004 maintenance / Ex005 overhaul/repair / Ex007 visual & close inspection / Ex008 detailed inspection / Ex009 design / Ex010 audit inspection.

IECEx competence documentation explicitly links different knowledge and practical evidence to these activities.

Operational Ex point: “Ex trained” is not a competence definition.

Before assigning work, ask: Competent to do what?

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▶️ MEETING WATCH - HAZARDEX ELLESMERE PORT

TOMORROW | UK - 23 September

Hazardex in the Regions takes place tomorrow in Ellesmere Port, bringing together hazardous-area, process-safety and functional-safety specialists.

These cross-discipline meetings matter because Ex failures often appear at interfaces: Process ↔️ Mechanical ↔️ Electrical ↔️ Instrumentation ↔️ Maintenance ↔️ HSE ↔️ Operations

The individual disciplines can each be technically correct while the interface between them is uncontrolled.

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▶️ OPERATIONAL Ex USE CASE - REPLACEMENT FLEXIBLE HOSE

PRACTICAL USE CASE

Maintenance replaces a damaged flexible transfer hose.

Same diameter.

Same connection.

Same product.

Production wants to restart. But the replacement hose has a different construction. The question is to check: conductivity → bonding/earthing arrangement → material compatibility → electrostatic behaviour → manufacturer limits → installation → verification.

A €200 maintenance replacement can change an ignition-control barrier. Replacement-in-kind must mean functionally equivalent for Ex - not simply dimensionally equivalent.

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▶️ GOOD ENGINEERING PRACTICE - FIND THE ASSUMPTIONS

Take one hazardous-area classification drawing today. Don’t look at the coloured zones first.

Find the assumptions behind them: Ventilation available? Release rate? Operating pressure? Material? Temperature? Housekeeping? Containment? Normal operating mode?

Then walk into the plant. Are those assumptions still true?

A perfectly drawn HAC based on conditions that no longer exist is not a reliable operational barrier.

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▶️ TODAY’S Ex QUESTION

Ask Operations for the last five plant modifications.

Then ask one question about each: “Was explosion protection considered before the change was authorised?”

Not after installation. Not during the next Ex inspection. Before the decision.

That is where Operational Ex starts.