ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the status of the different types of guidance material and identifies the main sources of guidance in the field of electrical safety. The originator of standards in the UK is the British Standards Institution. Standards usually have the same status as guidance. European harmonised standards produced under the terms of, for example, the Low Voltage and Machinery Directives, have a special status. This is because compliance with them provides a presumption of conformity with the essential health and safety requirements (HSE), or safety objectives, of the relevant directive. Engineering Equipment Materials Users Association produces a range of guidance publications. For example, its Publication 186 A Practitioner's handbook for potentially explosive atmosphere provides helpful guidance on the law and standards for preventing electrical ignition of potentially explosive atmospheres. Guidance produced by bodies such as the Institution of Engineering and Technology and Electrical Safety First are more focused and technically authoritative than the HSE's guidance.
