The ATEX directive consists of two EU directives describing what equipment (ATEX 95: 94/9/EC) and work environment (ATEX 137: 99/92/EC) is allowed in an environment with an explosive atmosphere (ATEX comes from the french wording “ATmosphères EXplosibles”). Since July 2003, organizations in EU (and also in many others regions) must follow the directives to protect employees from explosion risk in areas with an explosive atmosphere.The new ATEX directive (2014/34/EU published on Saturday 29 March 2014) will be mandatory for manufacturers and operators on 20 April 2016 as is stated in article 44 of the directive. This new ATEX directive should become the Safety reference, even outside of the European Union.