a Technical Committee, known as CT-31, which
would be responsible for issuing new Brazilian
standards for electric installations in explosive
atmospheres based in the IEC standards.
It became apparent that those manufacturers who
processed flammable substances would generally
determine the explosion risks involved based on
myths, taboos and fantasies, to the point of con-
sidering that everything as subject to immediate
risks of explosion. “Following its creation, the
ABPEx (Brazilian Association for Explosion Pre-
vention) started an awareness campaign, showing
that there are risks indeed, but there are also so-
lutions to address and manage them,” says Nelson
López, president of the ABPEx
With the advent of the ABPEx as an entity created
to work for the benefit of society, a new phase
began in the definition and treatment of explosion
risks. “Our goals are to prevent, control, suppress
and protect from explosions. Accordingly, the
work done by the ABPEx has succeeded in reducing
explosion risks, as well as implementation and
management costs in classified areas in a variety
of industries, particularly paint manufacturers,”
says López.
The president of the ABPEx explains that Regulatory
Standard no. 10 (NR-10), published in December 2004
by the Ministry of Labor, is a law. “That NR specified
a series of actions for all companies, particularly
those exposed to explosion risks, requiring them to
regularize their electric systems installed in classified
areas. The companies concerned were given a period
of two years to adapt for NR-10. At that time, the
ABPEx was converted into one entity with expertise in
explosion prevention, and was constantly called upon
to issue opinions on related matters. Today, most lar-
ge companies are compliant, and a large portion of
medium-sized and small businesses are in the middle
of the regularization process, but there’s still a long
way to go,” says López.