QGE is one of Australia’s foremost hazardous area consultancies. We do everything from hazardous area classification, to electrical and instrumentation design, to inspections and compliance reporting for existing installations, to installation audits prior to energisation. We also deliver competency-based training and education services via Extend Training. We love this hazardous area stuff so much we even created our own online EEHA verification dossier and inspection management software, Ex-Online.
As with all our services, we strive to provide solutions that are sensible, cost effective and minimise the ongoing compliance burden for our customers.
QGE is able to provide hazardous area classifications in accordance with the relevant Australian and International standards, however we don’t just quote clauses and apply industry example classifications. In our experience an overly conservative hazardous area classification results in significant additional cost throughout the design, construction, operational and decommissioning phases. This also applies to the hazardous area classification of existing facilities. We ensure that our classifications are compliant, without being overly conservative. Where possible we also make recommendations regarding process design and operational improvements to reduce the extent of the hazardous zones and with them, the ongoing compliance cost for our customers. This goes hand in hand with our process safety engineering services which include dust hazard analysis, dispersion modelling and risk assessment.
We also provide specialist services in the area of hazardous area electrical equipment and installation compliance. These core services include:
- Electrical equipment and installation detailed design (AS/NZS 3000 , AS/NZS 60079.14 and related standards)
- Hazardous area dossier compilation and compliance assessments/calculations
- Conformity assessment of equipment certified to international standards
- Fitness for purpose assessment for legacy equipment with no third party certification
- Initial detailed and periodic EEHA inspection of electrical and mechanical equipment/installations
- Accredited auditing of hazardous area electrical installations (Qld Accredited HA Auditors)
- Hazardous area management plan development and implementation, including risk based inspection (RBI) methodologies
- Management of international vendor package design and compliance for the Australian market (Canada, USA, Asia and Europe)
- Standard and specialised competency based training and assessment
- Incident investigation and expert witness services