DIN IEC/TS 60079-44:2025-05

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to establish recommended minimum criteria to determine roles, establish expectations of the necessary skills and evidence of competence to assess and manage the competence of personnel conducting work in or associated with hazardous areas. This document provides examples and recommendations of minimum levels of competence for typical roles associated with hazardous areas by addressing the knowledge, skills, or abilities that is expected of personnel. Additionally, examples of the evidence of competence expected for each role are provided. This document is intended to assist employers in developing a program for defining, assessing, and managing competency requirements. Such a programme could be specific to a facility or used in conjunction with other regulatory requirements where they exist. The competencies for conducting work in a hazardous area are in addition to any competencies which may apply for the general type of work being undertaken (for example, professional credentials, electrical, non-electrical, operations, design). This document applies to both electrical and non-electrical applications. These include, among other things, proof of qualifications, roles in potentially explosive atmospheres, proof of design expertise, installation expertise, and maintenance expertise. The scope of this document is subject to the following limitation, among others: - several legal and application-specific standards and guidelines are available with regard to demonstrating competence in the classification of atmospheres. This document does not attempt to list them (for example, IEC 60079-10-1 and IEC 60079-10-2). Typical application examples for this document include: - internal quality audit of the competence management system for potentially explosive atmospheres; - classification of atmospheres; - design of systems or installations in potentially explosive atmospheres; - installation; - maintenance; - overhaul and repair work in service facilities; - inspection; - commissioning.