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ATEX CALLPOINTS

Manual Call Points and Push Buttons are a key There doesn’t appear any universal use of colours
part of any safety system giving local personnel with Manual Call Points but the following is
the ability to activate an alarm in the event of typical of many installations;
an emergency situation which has not been
triggered by the automatic fire and gas detection RED Fire or CO2/FM200
systems. Release
BLUE CO2/FM200 Inhibit
Normally a break glass is used for fire or CO2/ YELLOW OR YELLOW Abandon Platform or
FM200 Release with push buttons often used for WITH BLACK STRIPES emergency Shutdown
ESD (Emergency Shut Down), Abandon Platform
or CO2/FM200 Inhibit. In many applications, there is a requirement for
the call point to trigger or interface with more
There is quite often confusion regarding the than one system. In these instances, a double
“breaking” of the glass and we still see requests pole switching arrangement allows each system
for a hammer to do this. Modern call points use a to remain isolated electrically.
plastic coated glass element which is designed to
crack down the middle using minimal force and
will not splinter allowing for safe operation. The
idea of breaking the glass is a safety hazard and
should be avoided at all costs and this type of call
point will only be seen on system more than 20
years old.

Push Button Call Points come in two different
versions. A self-reset which can be activated/
reset by the anyone and a tool reset which only
allows for a supervisor to reset with a special
key and is typical of installation on an offshore
platform where investigation of an activation
would be required.