ATEX and explosion-proof inspection robots in the UK: what is certified, what the marking means, and what DSEAR requires

Yes, if they are certified for the zone, the gas group and the temperature class of the area, and most are not. DSEAR requires employers to classify places where an explosive atmosphere may occur into zones, and Schedule 3 sets the category of equipment each zone needs. The Equipment and Protective Systems Intended for Use in Potentially Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2016 then govern how that equipment is certified and marked before it is placed on the GB market. A robot walking or driving through a zoned area is equipment "capable of causing an explosion through its own potential sources of ignition": motors, batteries, electronics, radios and hot surfaces.

There is UK history here. In 2018 the Oil and Gas Technology Centre backed a £4m project to deploy an autonomous Taurob robot at Total's Shetland gas plant before moving it offshore to the Alwyn platform, for visual inspection and gas leak detection. Offshore operators in the Norwegian sector have since deployed or tested Taurob Inspector and ANYmal X; our guide to offshore platform inspection robots covers those.

Figures are quoted from the manufacturers' public pages and specification sheets as read on 25 September 2026 and may change; they are not Forge test results. Certificates, not brochures, decide suitability: ask for the certificate for the exact robot, payload and dock configuration you will use.

A listing that calls something an "ATEX robot" or an "explosion-proof robot" tells you little until you read the marking itself. Take ANYmal X's published ATEX marking, II 2G IIB T4, as the worked example.

The IECEx string adds the protection concepts used (flameproof "db", increased safety "eb", intrinsic safety "ib" and others) and the equipment protection level "Gb", which corresponds to Zone 1. The site's hazardous area classification drawing tells you the zone, gas group and temperature class; the robot's certificate must meet or exceed all three for every area on its route.

DSEAR 2002: zones and equipment categories

DSEAR places duties on employers to eliminate or control the risks from dangerous substances. Regulation 7 requires hazardous places to be classified into zones and the equipment in them to meet Schedule 3. The zones depend on how often an explosive atmosphere is present: Zone 0 continuously or for long periods, Zone 1 likely occasionally in normal operation, Zone 2 not likely in normal operation and short-lived if it occurs, with Zones 20, 21 and 22 as the dust equivalents. Before a zoned workplace is first used, its overall explosion safety must be verified by a competent person, and adding a robot, its dock and its radios to that workplace is a change that verification should consider.

CE, UKCA and UKEX marking in Great Britain

For explosive-atmosphere equipment placed on the GB market, the Office for Product Safety and Standards guidance (updated March 2025) says CE-marked goods that meet EU requirements continue to be recognised indefinitely, following the Product Safety and Metrology etc. (Amendment) Regulations 2024, which came into force on 1 October 2024. The UKCA route under the 2016 Regulations, often called UKEX, remains available with a UK Approved Body. In practice a GB buyer can accept either an ATEX (CE) or a UKEX (UKCA) certified robot; the IECEx certificate is the international scheme and is not a legal marking on its own in GB.

COMAH sites

Sites holding dangerous substances above threshold quantities fall under the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015. HSE's COMAH performance report counted 884 COMAH establishments in Great Britain at the end of March 2017; the current register is searchable on HSE's public information site. A robot on a COMAH site does not change the major accident prevention policy or safety report on its own, but a robot that becomes part of how the site inspects safety-critical equipment should be reflected in the inspection regime those documents describe.

Non-certified robots under a gas-free permit

Some sites consider using non-certified equipment in a zoned area under a permit, with the area proven gas-free and continuously monitored, as they would for hot work. That is a site-specific decision for the duty holder and competent persons, not a product feature, and it forfeits the main benefit of a robot: being able to look when the atmosphere is uncertain.

A multi-gas detector matched to the site's hazards, typically covering flammable gas (as a percentage of the lower explosive limit), oxygen, hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide, certified as part of the robot's configuration and calibrated on a schedule. A gas-imaging or optical gas camera where fugitive emissions matter. A radiometric thermal camera for motors, bearings, pumps, steam traps and electrical enclosures. A zoom camera for gauges, sight glasses and valve positions. A microphone or acoustic sensor for machinery sounds and gas leaks. LiDAR for navigation and mapping. Every sensor must be covered by the certificate; an uncertified camera bolted on voids the certification of the whole robot.

On a process site, inspection findings belong in the computerised maintenance management system, the process historian or digital twin, the alarm and monitoring platform, and the permit and inspection records. Most robots report into their maker's app or cloud, and many process sites will not allow a maker's cloud anywhere near the plant.

Forge Anvil is the integration software we are developing for this job: getting findings into the systems your team already uses. On a process site, the pattern we would scope looks like this:

Integration hardware is not certified for hazardous areas, so it would sit in a safe area, as would any network components that are not Ex-rated. Which systems Forge Anvil connects to is scoped site by site in the integration review. How to scope integration is in our guide to integrating a robot with the software you already run.

Start with the hazardous area classification drawing, not the robot. Pick one route whose zones, gas groups and temperature classes are all within a certified platform's rating, ideally a round that is frequent, long or out of hours. Involve the site's ATEX or DSEAR competent person, process safety lead and control room from the first meeting. Agree the measures:

Set exit criteria, for example if the certified configuration cannot carry the sensors the round needs. That is how we structure a pilot programme. Ex-certified platforms are specialist, lower-volume products with longer lead times; a pilot platform may come through the manufacturer, a specialist distributor or supply through Forge where that fits. Grant or innovation funding can sometimes contribute towards a suitable pilot, subject to eligibility and the schemes open at the time; it is never guaranteed and is assessed before a pilot is scoped.