A DSEAR risk assessment looks at the substances on a site that can burn or explode — solvents, paints, fuels, LPG, flammable gases, fine dusts from wood, flour, sugar or metal — and asks three questions: where could they get out, could the escape form a cloud that would ignite, and what is stopping that from happening. This template walks through the substances, the activities that release them, the hazardous zones, the ignition sources, the equipment in those zones, and the controls and emergency plans, so that each gap ends up as an action with an owner. Fill it in here and download a PDF without an account, or speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
What DSEAR asks of an employer
The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 apply across Great Britain wherever work involves a substance that could cause a fire, explosion or similar energetic event. Northern Ireland has its own equivalent regulations. The employer has to assess the risk, remove it or reduce it as far as reasonably practicable, classify any places where an explosive atmosphere could form, provide arrangements for accidents and emergencies, and tell and train the people involved. With five or more employees, the significant findings must be written down.
The Regulations reach far beyond chemical plants. A joinery workshop with a dust extractor, a garage with a petrol can and a battery charger, a print room with solvent wipes, a bakery with flour silos and a warehouse with LPG forklifts are all in scope.
Substances first, then how they get out
List each substance with the properties that matter for fire: its flashpoint, its flammable range, the temperature at which it ignites on its own, and for dusts how easily a cloud ignites. The safety data sheet has most of this. Then record how much is used and stored, and where.
Next come the activities that could let it out: decanting from drums, spraying, brushing, charging batteries, emptying a dust collector, purging a vessel, refuelling. For each, note whether a release is continuous, expected in normal running, or would only follow a failure, and how good the ventilation is. Those two answers drive the zoning.
Zones are recorded here, not calculated
Where an explosive atmosphere could form in a quantity that needs special precautions, the area is classified into zones: 0, 1 and 2 for gas, vapour and mist, and 20, 21 and 22 for dust clouds, from the most to the least likely. The form records the zone and its extent as the area classification drawing or the assessor gives them. It does not work zones out for you.
Small, simple sites can often show that no zoning is needed, and the form asks you to say why. Larger or more complex sites — process plant, bulk tanks, large dust systems, anything with a Zone 0 or 20 — need someone competent in explosion protection to do the classification and to check the whole arrangement before a zoned area is first used.
Ignition sources and equipment
An explosive atmosphere does no harm until something lights it. The form goes through each kind of source in turn — naked flames, hot work, smoking, ordinary electrical kit, static, hot surfaces, sparks from tools or impact, vehicles, phones — and asks how well each is controlled where the substance could be.
Equipment used in a zone must be built for that zone, and its marking shows what it is fit for. A category 1 product is needed in Zone 0 or 20, category 2 or better in Zone 1 or 21, and category 3 or better in Zone 2 or 22. Each item is checked against the zone it sits in, and anything unsuitable becomes a safety finding.
Common questions
Who needs a DSEAR risk assessment?
Any employer or self-employed person in Great Britain whose work involves a substance that could burn or explode — flammable liquids and gases, combustible dusts, oxidisers and the like — whatever the quantity. Where only tiny amounts are used, the assessment can be short and say so.
What is the difference between DSEAR and COSHH?
COSHH covers harm to health from breathing, swallowing or touching a substance. DSEAR covers harm from fire, explosion and similar events. Many products, such as solvents, need both, and the two assessments can sit side by side.
What do Zones 0, 1 and 2 mean?
They describe how likely an explosive gas or vapour atmosphere is. Zone 0 is present continuously or for long periods, Zone 1 is likely now and then during normal operation, and Zone 2 is not expected in normal operation and short-lived if it happens. Zones 20, 21 and 22 mean the same for clouds of combustible dust.
Do I always need hazardous area zoning?
No. Zoning is needed where an explosive atmosphere could form in such quantities that special precautions are required. Many small users of flammable products can show that the quantities and ventilation mean it cannot. Record that reasoning in the assessment.
Who can carry out a DSEAR assessment?
A competent person, who understands the substances, the process and the site. A small workshop owner can often assess a simple situation with guidance; area classification and equipment selection on a complex site need a specialist in explosion protection.
Does completing this template make us compliant with DSEAR?
No form can do that on its own. It records what was assessed, what was found and what will be done. Whether the arrangements are adequate is judged against the Regulations and the approved code of practice by someone competent to do so.