Proper management of these areas is crucial in order to significantly mitigate the risk of experiencing an explosion or fire.  Part of an effective management plan should include a Hazardous Area Equipment List (HAER) which details where every piece of electrical equipment in these areas is located, along with its specifications and last inspection date.  To maintain suitability and certification, all electrical equipment installed in hazardous areas must be subject to regular inspections and upkeep.  Given the amount of equipment that may be installed in your hazardous areas - hundreds, perhaps thousands - an accurate HAER may be difficult to create and maintain.  Many facilities have no record of such equipment, and completing such an inventory can be a time consuming, manpower-intensive process, especially considering that every piece of electrical equipment installed in hazardous locations should not only be inventoried, logged, and inspected, but also assigned and tagged with a unique number.

 OCS has extensive experience in hazardous area management, and has been assisting clients with inspections, documentation, compliance, and remediation of these areas for several years.   OCS now introduces a tool to make hazardous area management easier – Hazard TracTM. Developed by the hazardous area experts at OCS together with OCS software  engineers, HAZARD TRACTM is a PDA-based application designed  to gather and store all of your hazardous area information electronically.  By giving the user logical, step-by-step inspection windows and standardized answers – based on regulatory & industry standards – Hazard TracTM ensures that your inspections area more accurate, efficient, and complete – and transfers that data directly into your facility hazardous area management plan.