That is the whole of DSEAR in one question. If you store, use or produce anything that can burn or explode, you are required to answer it in writing.
We write assessments that survive an inspection: substances, zones, ignition sources, controls, and a numbered action list you can actually work through.
If you tick any one of these, you are in scope. It is not a sliding scale, and there is no threshold quantity written into the regulations.
A single 205‑litre drum of solvent in a workshop brings you in, in exactly the same way a tank farm does. What changes is the depth of assessment that is reasonable, not whether you need one.
Solvents, thinners, fuels, adhesives, alcohol. Drum stores, decanting areas, dip tanks, parts washers.
Bulk tanks, cylinder stores, forklift refuelling points, acetylene, natural gas plant rooms.
Flour, sugar, wood, grain, animal feed, metal powders. Extraction, silos, sanding bays.
Paint booths, powder coating, printing, aerosol filling, mixing rooms.
Depots, farm tanks, generator day tanks, forecourts, marina bunkering.
Lead‑acid charging bays vent hydrogen. The one most warehouses miss entirely.
Pembrokeshire County Council calls this the Energy Capital of the UK, and it is not marketing.
Two LNG terminals, an oil refinery, one of Europe’s largest gas‑fired power stations and a working deep‑water port sit within a few miles of our door. That is the environment DSEAR was written for, and it is the one we work in week in, week out.
The supply chain around that waterway — tank cleaning, coatings, fabrication, marine fuel, haulage — handles dangerous substances every day. We travel UK‑wide for site work, but the grounding is real, and it is why our zoning drawings tend not to come back with questions.
Get it too tight and you fail an inspection. Get it too generous and you spend thousands on ATEX kit you never needed.
Both mistakes are expensive. The second one is far more common, and nobody ever tells you about it, because the person selling you the equipment has no reason to.
Substance inventory, hazard identification, ignition source review, existing controls, and the risk that is left once those controls are counted.
Zone 0, 1, 2 for gas and vapour, 20, 21, 22 for dust, with a marked‑up drawing you can hand straight to an electrical contractor.
Numbered, dated and ranked. Not a wish list. You will know what to do on Monday and what can wait until the next shutdown.
Included. A report nobody understands is a report nobody acts on, and that is what gets people prosecuted.
Not a sales visit followed by a template. You deal with the person who walked your building, start to finish, and you can ring them afterwards.
Any UK employer whose work involves a dangerous substance. That covers flammable liquids, gases, LPG, solvents, paints, aerosols, and combustible dusts such as flour, wood, sugar or metal powder. There is no minimum quantity written into the regulations. A single 205-litre drum of solvent in a workshop brings you into scope.
Yes. The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 have been in force since July 2003 and are enforced by the HSE. The duty to assess sits with the employer, and it cannot be delegated to a supplier or a landlord.
Most single-site assessments take half a day to a full day on site. The written report follows within five working days. Larger or multi-building sites are quoted after a short scoping call.
Hazardous area classification is one part of DSEAR. It is the exercise of working out where an explosive atmosphere could occur and dividing those places into zones. The DSEAR assessment is the wider piece: substances, ignition sources, controls, mitigation and emergency arrangements.
Review it when the assessment is no longer valid. In practice that means when you change a substance, a process, the layout, the ventilation or the equipment. Otherwise a review every two to three years is the normal benchmark.
No charge for the conversation. Most quotes go out the same day.