Intrinsic Safety: Why Certification Matters and What It Takes to Get Approved

In hazardous environments—whether it’s an oil rig, coal mine, aircraft hangar, or chemical plant—electrical devices must not pose an ignition risk. That’s the fundamental idea behind intrinsic safety (IS). Devices certified as intrinsically safe are engineered to prevent sparks or heat from triggering explosions in the presence of flammable gases, vapors, or dust.

But earning that certification is anything but simple.

Why Intrinsic Safety Is Critical

For sectors like Energy, Mining, and Defense & Aerospace, safety requirements go far beyond basic compliance. When environments are classified as Zone 0 (continuous exposure to hazardous atmospheres), even the slightest failure can mean injury, equipment loss, or worse.

Intrinsic safety standards—like UL 913 (North America), ATEX/IECEx (EU/international), and MIL-STD-810 (for ruggedization)—provide the regulatory foundation to ensure devices function without causing ignition.

Without IS certification:

Devices may be restricted from entering specific zones.
Organizations may face regulatory penalties.
Most importantly, lives are at risk.

What Makes Intrinsic Safety Certification So Complex?

Achieving intrinsic safety requires rigorous control over every component, power circuit, and enclosure. Here’s a breakdown of why certification is challenging:

Challenge	Impact on Design & Approval
Power Limitation	Circuits must remain below specific voltage, current, and thermal thresholds in all conditions.
Component Selection	Only components with predictable failure modes are allowed—limiting design freedom.
Environmental Resilience	Devices must operate safely across a range of temperatures, humidity, and atmospheric conditions.
Battery Safety	Energy storage must be designed to fail safely, often excluding common Li-ion packs.
Encapsulation & Isolation	High-risk areas must be physically isolated or sealed with flameproof or non-incendive barriers.
Redundant Fail-safes	Devices must handle internal faults gracefully and without ignition.
Compliance Across Regions	UL, ATEX, and IECEx standards often require separate testing, documentation, and audit processes.

ActionStreamer’s Path to Certification

Designing a wearable live-streaming camera system for critical environments wasn’t just an engineering exercise—it was a full systems-level safety and compliance effort.

Our certification process followed a multi-phase approach:

1. Design for Safety from the Start

Rather than retrofit an existing platform, our engineers began with a blank slate. We prioritized power efficiency, signal isolation, and materials rated for hazardous zones—before a single PCB was etched.

2. Work with Certification Bodies Early

We engaged UL and other Notified Bodies in the earliest design phases. Pre-submittal design reviews helped flag unacceptable components, layout risks, and firmware considerations that could compromise compliance.

3. Iterate Through Testing Loops

Intrinsic safety testing isn't a one-time gate. It's an iterative, often destructive process. Over-voltage, short-circuit, and thermal runaway simulations must be performed to validate every failure mode.

4. Documentation at the Component Level

Every resistor, capacitor, enclosure screw, and RF antenna connection needed traceable specs and tested configurations. Our design verification package included:

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
Power dissipation audits
Thermal modeling
Conformity matrices for multiple certification regimes

Lessons for OEMs and Integrators

If you’re building smart PPE, inspection cameras, or connected worker platforms for hazardous locations, here’s what you should expect:

Design early with IS constraints in mind—retrofitting rarely works.
Select suppliers familiar with certification standards—even a single non-compliant component can require a full redesign.
Budget for multiple test cycles and long lead times—IS is not a “fast-fail” process.
Plan for multiple certifications if your product will cross markets (UL for U.S., ATEX for EU, IECEx for international, etc.).

Conclusion

Intrinsic safety isn’t a feature—it’s a foundation for safe operation in the world’s most unforgiving environments. Whether you're deploying wearables in confined spaces or building autonomous inspection devices for offshore rigs, intrinsic safety certification is both a technical hurdle and a critical enabler.

At ActionStreamer, we’ve proven that live video streaming and intrinsically safe design can coexist—even in Zone 0 environments. It's not easy. But it’s necessary.