The Analysis of Research and Need for Skills in Alternative Refrigerants in European Countries

Transcription

1 The Analysis of Research and Need for Skills in Alternative Refrigerants in European Countries Introduction The proposed revisions to the EU s F Gas regulations now due to be introduced on 1 st January 2015 (see Appendix 1) will phase down the availability of high global warming potential (GWP) HFC refrigerants and ban their use in certain applications. This will lead to a rapid increase in the use of natural refrigerants such as ammonia, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide and emerging HFOs and HFO blends. These refrigerants are different to HFC refrigerants, since they are either toxic, (slightly) flammable or operate at high pressures and temperatures. The REAL Alternatives programme which is part of the EU Leonardo lifelong learning programme for vocational education has been set up with the aim of developing new blended learning material for European training providers to meet the need to address skills shortages and share resources in this area. This report provides a summary of the research which will underpin the development of this new programme. It is based on input obtained from the key partner countries and from a wide selection of stakeholders via a survey. This report provides an understanding of the needs for these skills in the partner countries which include Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland and the UK, specifically covering the following: 1) General overview of the as installed Refrigeration and Air Conditioning RAC use, in the partner countries 2) The current training provision 3) Potential use and status of alternative refrigerants. 4) The survey on the availability of skills in specific member countries. 5) The availability of existing training materials and development of training template. 1. Overview of the RAC use in the Partner Countries This includes the applications, types and numbers of as installed RAC systems/units for all refrigerants including HFCs. A wide range of business sectors has been considered in the partner countries and it is clear that, the refrigerants with high Global Warming Potential (GWP) are at present used mostly with some hydrocarbons (HCs) and natural refrigerants. The table below summarises the overview of the as installed RAC systems including typical refrigerant charges with their corresponding estimated total number of installed systems for each listed business sector. The contents in this table are further detailed in Appendix 2. 1

2 Business Sectors Typical Refrigerant Charge Estimated Number of Systems Integral retail cabinets <3kg 13,300,000 Small Commercial 3 30kg 1,870,000 Supermarket kg 140,000 Industrial >300kg 185,000 Air conditioning >30kg 945,000 <30kg 21,100,000 Table 1 2. Current training provision Current training provision is driven by meeting the current F Gas regulations implemented in 2008 and therefore HFC refrigerant based. The number of individuals and companies certified under the F Gas regulations and the certification bodies are detailed in Table 2 below. Partners Partners Responses UK/LSBU individuals hold Category 1 certificates and the certification bodies include City and Guilds and CITB. It is estimated that 7000 UK companies are registered and the certification bodies include REFcom, QUIDOS and Bureau Veritas. German/IKKE There are around 15 certification bodies (training providers / guilds) to certify the personnel. The companies certification is under the responsibility of the German Government. There is a decentralized system in every county within Germany Currently, there is no actual central register to check the actual number of certified personnel and companies. The certified personnel and companies in Germany is estimated as follows: o Personnel certified in Germany about o Companies certified in Germany about 1800 Belgium/KHLIM In Flemish part of Belgium, the number of registered companies is estimated at 209 and the certification bodies for companies include: o AIB Vinçotte Belgium vzw, o Vereniging Bureau Veritas vzw and o Keurtech vzw Italy/ATF Italy has a comprehensive online register to check certified personnel and companies. This helps end users to identify only certified personnel and companies and verify the position of the installers. There are approx 10 certification bodies for both personnel and companies o Personnel certified in Italy: o Companies certified in Italy:

3 Poland/Prozon Poland hasn't implemented the F gas regulation yet. This is expected towards the end of The regulation of training and certification system will come into force 12 months after this announcement, thus training and certification system will start no sooner than 2 nd half of Currently, the only certificate required by law, is certificate of competence (świadectwo kwalifikacji), which is mandatory for installers dealing with ozone layer depleting substances. The Ministry of Environment recommends (but does not require) to use this as a temporary certificate and there is no official register of these certificates. As every installer dealing with ozone depleting substances must have the certificate, approx companies should have at least one employee with the certificate. Summary for Europe In its preparatory study for a review of the F Gas Regulations, Ökoaccording to AREA Recherche reported the following figures of certified personnel in July 2011: Stationary refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps: o 228,000 individuals (48% of the total estimated number of individuals subject to certification in partner countries) More than two years later, it is likely that these figures have increased very significantly, at least because of two factors: Some countries with a large number of individuals subject to certification (e.g. Italy and Spain) did not have a certification system in 2011 but do now. Since interim certificates expired in July 2011, the number of certifications surged afterwards. In the UK, for instance, the number of certified individuals doubled between September 2011 and September Table 2: Individuals & companies certified under F Gas regulations 3. Potential use and status of alternative refrigerants. It is likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive the use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons, ammonia, CO 2 and HFOs. However, each has limitations. For some current HFC applications, alternative solutions are not readily available and low flammable blends and HFOs are best proposed as a possible future development. None of the countries expressed the availability of training and technical information for these refrigerants. To understand the implications of the revised F Gas regulations, we collected local information on the current and likely use of the future alternative refrigerants. The collected information includes Standards and Training, Guidance Materials, EU Legislations and National Legislation which are aligned with the applicable EC Directives and these are detailed in Table 3 below. 3

4 Partners Comments UK/LSBU There has been a large take up of hydrocarbons in smaller systems, and there are private courses from suppliers, end users and private training organisations through City and Guilds Certification. There are high levels of expertise traditionally in ammonia refrigeration and Training is available through City & Guilds and CITB. Retailers and other market leaders have been experimenting with the use of CO 2, and City & Guilds have recently started offering CO 2 training but awareness and take up is low and this is considered too comprehensive and costly. Good industry guidance is available but European and International standards have not yet been adapted to accommodate some of the newer refrigerants. German/IKKE Use of natural refrigerants: o Domestic refrigeration high percentage of HC ( R600a), o Industrial Refrigeration growing market for ammonia and CO 2 o Supermarket growing market for CO 2 Legislation: o German will follow the EU Legislation but many users are voluntarily selecting natural refrigerants Standards: o German use EN 378 (EU), BGR 500 (running of refrigeration systems) (DE), pr DIN 7003 (use of flammable refrigerants) (DE), Ammonia Leitfaden and handbooks of manufacturers Training: o Within the German dual vocational education system (3.5 years of learning), the basic knowledge is given but there is still a need of better competence and practice. Only a few companies have good potential and personnel with higher competences in practical use of natural refrigerants (mainly ammonia and CO 2 ). Needs and Recommendation: Lack of competence is foreseen and therefore a need for training and certification for natural refrigerants (CO 2 and Ammonia). For HCs refrigerants, the training should include: o Information on components for potential explosive atmospheres according to ATEX 94 o Information on safety for workers in potential explosive atmospheres according to ATEX 99 o Detailed repairing procedure for break in HCs systems supported by photos/sketches, etc. o Information on transport of HCs small vessels necessary for repairing in the field Belgium/KHLIM The use of natural refrigerants has increased in Belgium in the last few years. Some major supermarket chains have chosen natural refrigerants such that they use it in many new installations. However 4

5 most of the new refrigeration systems built today still work with F gases. The legislation in the Flemish part of Belgium is based on the European F Gas regulation and is completely implemented and translated. This means that both the companies and the technicians who work with F gases must be certified. The Flemish legislation about F gases is disclosed in Vlarem I and II. In the Flemish part of Belgium, there are 12 training centres providing training and the assessments for the technicians requiring the F Gas certificates. The first training sessions for technicians and engineers about the use of natural refrigerants (CO 2 and ammonia) took place in the year KHLIM is the only training centre in Belgium that provides both theoretical and practical training in natural refrigerants. Some bigger companies provide in house training for their technicians about alternative refrigerants. The EN378 standard is used in Belgium. Italy/ATF The Standards, Training and Best Practices are very important for the Italian market due to: o the large production of small cabinets in Italy, o number of refrigeration units that are already using HCs (15% of the total in 2013), o growth forecast and the need for services provided by very small maintenance companies, normally with low competence in alternative refrigerants Training is available at the moment but with only a few installers participating. Needs and Recommendation: Lack of competence is foreseen for HC, CO 2 and Ammonia. This is probably proportionate to the current need but not enough to cover rapid growth in the use of those alternative refrigerants foreseen by the revised F gas regulation. Poland/Prozon Ammonia is the most popular (with competences at the highest) among natural refrigerants in Poland with a lot of working systems, and there is a system of vocational and additional training for the installers. Training for ammonia is available, and must be completed to get the certificate of competence (PN EN 13313:2003). CO 2 is gaining popularity. For retrofit of HFC installations, will be considered as a secondary solution, due to its higher investment costs and problems with spare parts. 5

6 There are no mandatory training and certification scheme dedicated solely to CO 2 and HC installations; nonetheless the installers must be trained on safe use (work safety and hygiene) by their contractors/employers. Since currently most small refrigerant systems are working on HCs, these refrigerants are likely to remain in use, being limited to the specific applications (mostly small refrigerators). Although the legislation is aligned with the UE Directives, implementation is often delayed. Needs and Recommendation: Safety of workers and end users is crucial and must be a very important part of training. Therefore, it is worth preparing the servicing companies to train the end users in an effective way. The protection of the installation against the potential failures Instruction manual for installers. A legal requirements checklist which should be put in a clear and easy to use way. Fire safety requirements. It is advisable to use picture language : sketches, schemes, photos, videos (with multilingual comments). Table 3 4. The Survey identifying the skills gap in using alternative refrigerants The survey addressed the needs of the following target groups; Large companies, Contractors / Manufacturers / Educators and SME/Micro Businesses. The needs were focused around skills and training through a series of questions as detailed in Appendix 3. The survey was distributed by each of the partner organisations to national stakeholders as well as through AREA, which has members operating throughout Europe. In total 104 stakeholders responded to the questionnaire. The breakdown of the number of respondents from partner countries is shown in the table 4 below. Partner Countries No. of Respondents UK/LSBU 41 German/IKKE 4 Belgium/KHLIM 15 Italy/ATF 16 Poland/PROZON 18 Outside Partner Countries 10 Total 104 Table 4 The results for the survey are detailed in Appendix 4 and based on the results, the key conclusions are as follows: 6

7 There is a general lack of preparedness for all refrigerants and particularly there is a large proportion of industry with little knowledge on natural refrigerants i.e. Ammonia, HFOs and CO 2. There is a reasonable availability of training in HC but poor take up and concerns about safety are high. The biggest technical issues that need to be addressed include availability of skills, containment of these refrigerants, system reliability and specifically safety. There is demand for a mix of e learning and external training provision i.e. blended learning. It is essential that individuals are tested on completion of their training. There is a strong support from stakeholders and certified companies to share and contribute to a pan European project. 5. The availability of existing training materials and development of training template A list was compiled by partners as a starting point for the revision of material and additional items can be added via e library. Key materials are available as PDF, PowerPoint, existing IOR Real Skills, IOR Refrigerant Codes, e learning and useful existing websites. These have been identified, reviewed and links added to the project website for use by interested parties. These will be an integral part of the blended learning approach, informing the new guides on e learning and providing additional detailed technical information. Site visitors and learners can add to, review and save new materials as they are identified on line. This is shown in Table 5 below. 7

8 Item No. Title of Material Author Type of material Scope 1 Refrigeration Codes of practice IOR PDF Codes Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 2 Guidance notes IOR PDF Guidance Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 3 Technical guidance for service engineers IOR PDF Guidance Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 4 BRA training specification and guidance notes, codes British Refrigeration Association (BRA) PDF Guidance CO2 and HCs 5 Star elearning material Star refrigeration E learning material Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 6 Manual for Refrigeration Servicing Technicians UNEP e book Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 7 Danfoss Learning and guidance pdfs Danfoss E learning materials and PDF Guidance Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 8 natural refrigerants guides Eurammon PDF Guidance Ammonia, CO2 and HCs 9 Datasheets from suppliers of refrigerant PDF Guidance CO2, HC, Ammonia 10 Self assessment checklist for ammonia systems Food Storage & Distribution Federation (FSDF) and IOR PDF Download Ammonia 11 Contractors: training the craftsman in the safe use of low GWP energy AREA pdf download Ammonia, CO2 and HCs efficient refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems 12 Low GWP Refrigerants: Guidance on use and basic competence AREA pdf download Ammonia, CO2 and HCs requirements for contractors 13 BGR 500 DE Information paper All Refrigerants 14 Ammonia Leitfaden DE Ammonia 15 EN 378 Eurpean Standard Institut All Refrigerants 16 pr DIN 7003 Germany standard HC 17 NaReCO2 (natural refrigerant CO2) KHLIM Guidance CO2 Item No. Title of Material Author Type of material Refrigerant Table 5 8

9 A template of the real alternative training modules to address needs identified by the market research stakeholder feedback was developed and reviewed by all partners and RAC training and assessment consultants and this is shown in Table 6 below. (Note the list of initial items identified and reviewed in January Additional items to be considered and reviewed during the length of the project) Modules Key information sources identified 1. Introduction to IOR Codes Alternative IOR Guidance notes Refrigerants; incl. BRA CO 2 training spec/hc components, guides equipment, Danfoss/ Star e learning secondary. AREA alternative refrigerant training specification. Retail cold of Conduct KHLim e learning 2. Containment and Eurammon Leakage BRA Guides Real skills and real zero 3. Appropriate design, specification, KHLIM e learning book installation and commissioning; 4. Issues with the low flammability HFCs and HFO blends 5. Checklist of Legal obligations; 6. Environmental, costs, reliability (safety) of leakage; F gas legislation, Standards eg EN378 Real skills and real zero IOR codes Real skills and real zero Additional resources library Summary of codes Where relevant eg DSEAR UNEP material Eurammon guides Manufacturers guidance eg Danfoss CO2, Emerson, Bitzer etc Asercom updated Safety datasheets ACFC refrigerants document Refrigerant suppliers Datasheets and guidance ASHRAE Field tests Manufacturers guides eg Daikin Extract lists of key EU legislation 7. Proactive Maintenance to Reduce Leakage; Safe Repair, 8. Site surveys; Health checklists. Real skills and real zero Retail code of conduct Real skills and real zero Retail code of conduct IOR Code Schedules Table 6 9

10 6. Conclusions and Recommendations The draft of revised F Gas Regulations will lead to a phase down of traditional high GWP refrigerants (HFCs), accompanied by bans on the use of HFCs in certain applications. The phase down will lead to price increases in virgin and recycled HFC market, making alternative refrigerant options more affordable. Based on the survey, it was established that a good range of information and guidance is available for all alternative refrigerants; however the employers have identified a need for accessible and reliable training to help address skills shortages with a focus on safety and fundamental skills. The project assessed the material availability to ensure it is appropriate and has identified skills to be enhanced and a mechanism to deliver cost effective training. Therefore, it was concluded that the readiness of alternative refrigeration systems in the European market is currently restricted by lack of extensive proven expertise, skills and concerns about safety, reliability and cost in using alternative refrigerants. For e.g. in the UK, supermarkets are leading in the implementation of CO 2 systems but have complained about lack of skills and experience in both design, component selection and installation, service and maintenance skills levels. The survey revealed that stakeholders felt that a mix of options or cost effective blended leaning approach seems appropriate. Learning has to be formally assessed and certified to make this valuable for learners and employers. A training template has been developed which identifies the scope of training to be delivered so as to enhance further the competences of the work force to address skills shortages and concerns of stakeholders to address issues of safety, compliance with legal requirement, efficiency and reliability. The need for training is likely to be long term as the legislation is phased in over the next 20 years and given the size of the work force, a need for sustainable training options is clearly identified. There is scope for developing this approach beyond partner countries and many Pan European stakeholders will support this. 7. Appendices 10

11 Appendix 1 The Details of the Proposed F Gas Regulations Bans Service and maintenance HFCs with GWPs of 2500 or more European Partner Countries: United Kingdom, German, Belgium, Italy & Poland 1/1/2020 Placing on the market (new equipment) Domestic refrigerators and freezers containing HFCs with a global warming potential (GWP) of 150 or more Refrigerators and freezers for commercial use containing HFCs with a GWP of 2500 or more Refrigerators and freezers for commercial use containing HFCs with GWPs of 150 and over Stationary refrigeration equipment that contains or relies upon for its functioning HFCs with a GWP of 2500 or more Centralized refrigeration systems for commercial use with a capacity of 40kW or more that contain or rely upon their functioning, fluorinated gases with a GWP of 150 or more Movable room air conditioning appliances that contain HFCs with GWP of 150 or more Single split air conditioning systems containing less than 3 kg of F gases that contain F gases with a GWP of 750 or more Proposed dates for Effecting the bans 1/1/2015 1/1/2020 1/1/2022 1/1/2020 1/1/2022 1/1/2020 1/1/

12 Appendix 2 Business Sector Integral cabinets retail Country/Partner Typical Estimated Current Refrigerant Usage Refrigerant Number of Charge Systems UK/LSBU <3kg 4,000,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants. Some hydrocarbons German/IKKE <3kg 3,100,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants, approx. 20% of the total quantity are small HCs cabinets with refrigerant charge <0.15 kg. Belgium/KHLIM N/A N/A N/A N/A Italy/ATF <3kg 4,200,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants, approx. 5% of the total quantity are small HCs cabinets with refrigerant charge <0.15 kg. Future Refrigerant Usage Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons and HFOs Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons and HFOs. Expected regulation and mainly large End Users are driven to natural refrigerants. Use of HCs is growing. For higher refrigerant charge, cabinet producers are looking for HFOs and/or regulation accepting higher HCs refrigerant charge ( kg) with free installation in general occupancy ambient. Expected regulation and mainly large End Users are driven to natural refrigerants. Use of HCs is growing (in 2013 approx. 10 % of the total production and is forecasted to grow in cabinets suitable to be adapted to 0.15 kg refrigerant charge). For higher refrigerant charge, cabinet producers are looking for HFO and/or regulation accepting higher HCs refrigerant charge ( kg) with free installation in 12

13 Small Commercial general occupancy ambient. Poland/Prozon <3kg 2,000,000 Mainly high GWP Large end users have already been turning to refrigerants (R404A and R507). natural refrigerants, mainly HC. Smaller one will probably be startled with the new regulations and the boom for natural refrigerants will start by the end of phase down schedule. Total 13,300,000 UK/LSBU 3 30kg 300,000 Mainly high GWP Likely that F the revised F Gas regulations will German/IKKE 3 30kg 1,000,000 refrigerants. drive use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons and HFOs Belgium/KHLIM N/A N/A N/A N/A Italy/ATF 3 30kg 500,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants. Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will Poland/Prozon 3 30kg Mainly high GWP drive use of alternative refrigerants, mainly refrigerants (R404A and hydrocarbons and HFOs R507). Total 1,870,000 Supermarket UK/LSBU kg 50,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants. Some CO 2 German/IKKE kg 35,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants. Approx with CO 2 Belgium/KHLIM N/A N/A N/A N/A Italy/ATF kg 50,000 Mainly high GWP refrigerants. 1 2 with CO 2 Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants including CO 2 hydrocarbons and HFOs Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants, including CO 2, hydrocarbons, ammonia and HFOs Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants, including CO 2 hydrocarbons and HFOs Poland/Prozon kg Mainly high GWP Large end users are already turning to natural 13

14 refrigerants, aprox. 5% (and growing) of ammonia and 1% (and slowly growing) of CO 2. Total 140,000 Industrial UK/LSBU >300kg 50,000 Mix of high GWP refrigerants, with some presence for ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO 2 Air conditioning German/IKKE >300kg 80,000 Mix of high GWP refrigerants, with presence for ammonia and CO 2 Belgium/KHLIM N/A N/A N/A N/A Italy/ATF >300kg 50,000 Mix of high GWP refrigerants, with some presence for ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO 2 HFOs Poland/Prozon >300kg Fairly important share of ammonia, HCs and CO2 in some sectors. Total 185,000 UK/LSBU >30kg 420,000 Currently mainly high GWP HFCs with a small amount of hydrocarbon and ammonia German/IKKE <30kg 800,000 o R410a mainly, o R407C and refrigerants, mainly HCs, e.g. 150 Tesco shops were refitted with Trans critical CO 2 installations and the refit process is still in progress, while Lidl chose ammonia. Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will mean use of ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO 2 quite extensively with some reliance on HFOs Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive more use of ammonia and CO 2 with some reliance on HFOs Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will mean quite extensive use of ammonia, hydrocarbons and CO2 with some reliance on Ammonia, HCs and CO2 are traditionally strongly connected with industry, and therefore further growth of natural refrigerants installations is expected. Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons, ammonia and HFOs. Although CO 2 maybe an option on buildings with appropriate heating and cooling demands The revised F Gas regulations Bans: less than 3 kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases, that 14

15 o few still using R22 >30kg 420,000 Currently, mainly high GWP HFCs with a small amount of hydrocarbon and ammonia (chillers) Belgium/KHLIM N/A N/A N/A N/A Italy/ATF <30kg 20,000,000 o R410a mainly, For air o R407C and conditioning o Few still using R22 systems, the numbers are (ANIMA source): >30kg 100,000 Currently, mainly high GWP HFCs with a small amount of hydrocarbon and ammonia Poland/Prozon <30kg 300,000 R410A and R407C most popular contain, or that rely upon for their functioning, fluorinated greenhouse gases with GWP of 750 or more Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons, ammonia and HFOs. Although CO 2 maybe an option in buildings with appropriate heating and cooling demands The revised F Gas regulations Bans: less than 3 kg of fluorinated greenhouse gases, that contain, or that rely upon for their functioning, fluorinated greenhouse gases with GWP of 750 or more Likely that the revised F Gas regulations will drive use of alternative refrigerants mainly hydrocarbons, ammonia and HFOs. Although CO2 maybe an option in buildings with appropriate heating and cooling demands As these are mostly for domestic small business and small shops applications, the price will be a significant criterion for the end user. >30kg ~5000 Mainly high GWP HFCs. As these are often facilities with their own service teams, the main criterion for the alternatives will be reliability, flammability, safety and energy efficiency Total 22,045,000 15

16 Appendix 3 i) How well prepared are you for use of the following alternative refrigerants 16

17 ii) Rank the technical issues you think you need to address (i.e. safety, reliability, cost of replacement, containment, cost of use, skills of workforce, design problems, component availability) iii) What % of your workforce already trained in these areas? 17

18 iv) If you are considering retraining your workforce in the next 2 3 years how is this most likely to be carried out? v) Are you using any of these at the moment and if so which are you finding to be the most effective? 18

19 vi) Which of these learning methods do your technical staffs use regularly to update their knowledge? vii) If you are an employer of technicians how important is it that individuals undertake tests to check their knowledge and gain certificates of completion of training? 19

20 viii) Would you be interested in becoming a stakeholder in the REAL Alternatives project? (This could involve your commenting on proposed learning) 20

21 Appendix 4 Partner/Scope Detail Europe wide Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 BS EN 14624:2005 Performances of mobile leak detectors and of room controllers of halogenated refrigerants. ISO 817:2005 Refrigerants designation and system classification Certain Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases (EC Regulation 842/2006) (F Gas Regulations) Environmental Protection (Control of Ozone Depleting Substances) Regulations 1996 as amended 2002/2006/2008. BS EN 378:2008 1/2/3/4 Refrigeration Systems and Heat Pumps Environmental Requirements BS EN 13313:2002 Refrigeration Systems and Heat Pumps. Competence of Personnel Pressure Equipment Directive (97/23/EC) Regulation 303 (on Training pursuant to F Gas) ISO 5149 (draft) International Safety Standards Directive 94/9/EC on equipment and protective systems intended for use in potentially explosive atmospheres (ATEX) DIRECTIVE 1999/92/EC on minimum requirements for improving the safety and health protection of workers potentially at risk from explosive atmospheres Pressure Equipment Regulations 2007 UK Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 Pressure Systems Safety Regulations: 2000 (PSS Regulations) Minimisation of Refrigerant Emissions from Refrigerating Systems (ISBN ) Institute of Refrigeration IOR Codes of Practice for CO 2, Ammonia, A3 (Flammable) refrigerants Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulation (SI 2008/41) Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulation 2008 (SI 2008/41) Environmental Protection (Control of Ozone Depleting Substances) Regulations 1996 as amended 2002/2006/2008. (SI 91/2008) Belgium/KHLIM PSG 13 Ammonia as a refrigerant in refrigerators and heat pumps (English also used as guideline in Flanders) Italy/ATF Update on standards is necessary for Italy and for Europe to cope with the new F Gas regulation review. Poland/Prozon Polish (Ministry of Environment) work act Ustawa z dnia 20 kwietnia 2004 r. o substancjach zubożających warstwę ozonową (Dz.U ) on ozone depleting substances requires installers to have certificate of competence (świadectwo kwalifikacji), while dealing with ozone layer depleting substances. 21