Highlights

Atex systems against the risk of explosions

For over 50 years, Miretti Group has been providing Explosion-Proof Solutions for underground construction: ensuring safety in complex environments is a difficult challenge that requires Expertise, Technology, and the ability to Innovate.

Explosion-Proof Protection is a complex and not always well-known topic.
Safety regulations are becoming increasingly stringent for machinery operating in areas classified as ‘hazardous locations’, intensifying the required parameters and related controls that manufacturers must comply with.

Explosion-Proof Protection is becoming an increasingly hot topic when it is necessary to strictly comply with Atex conversion for machines operating on construction sites that are already underway, and therefore subject to precise timing, where there are environments classified as explosion risk areas.

There is an urgent need to adapt machines to Atex standards within certain time frames so that they can operate in difficult contexts such as tunnels.
In recent years, the construction sector in Italy has experienced rapid growth, mainly as a result of government measures.

In this article:

ATEX, BETWEEN TWO OPPOSITES: RISKS AND SAFETY
EXPERIENCE IN THE FIELD
THE ‘ATEX’ RESPONSE TO MARKET DEMANDS

Atex, between two opposites: risks and safety

Atex systems are positioned between two extremes: risk and safety.
The risks are real and significant when working with large machines inside a tunnel to carry out excavation operations.
In these contexts, solutions are therefore introduced to make equipment and vehicles safe – in accordance with regulations – by subjecting them to a certified Explosion-Proof conversion process before they can be used on site.

An Explosion-Proof partner, such as the Miretti Group, operates in this context when called upon to intervene with its specialist know-how. In this field, the choice of the company to entrust with individual vehicles or entire fleets of machines to be converted to Explosion Proof is determined by a number of variables: years of experience in the sector, continuous R&D, a propensity for technological innovation combined with craftsmanship, a high degree of customisation in the work, often carried out ad hoc for each single vehicle, and detailed knowledge of all the main reference directives and international certifications.

Experience in the field

The Miretti Group has been and continues to be involved in numerous strategic projects for the Italian construction sector, such as the RFI High-Speed Railway Passante and the Terzo Valico.

The challenge is significant. The expertise required is equally high. Miretti has been asked to provide explosion-proofing for more than 250 machines, including traditional construction equipment, concrete mixers, concrete pumps, wheel loaders, dumpers, excavators of all sizes, lifters, and even more specific and complex machinery for excavation, such as positioners, drills, cutters, and segment carriers. These are supplemented by various types of utility vehicles and emergency vehicles for evacuation purposes. Some of these vehicles have been converted to explosion-proof models and are already in operation on construction sites, while others are currently being converted at the HQ plants.

Considering the timing of the many supplies requested within a relatively narrow time frame, the Group is organising itself to guarantee a dynamic and multi-tasking after-sales service, which can intervene quickly both for spare parts and for any problems encountered on Atex machines and which can also carry out, at the customer’s request, periodic inspections (required by law) on Ex vehicles to ensure their correct functionality.

All these complex Atex processes are carried out on a large number of machines, some of which are very different from each other. They are planned and implemented thanks to Miretti’s solidity, which comes from being part of a Group and is reflected in operational facilities, production spaces, specialised staff, information exchange, and adequate investment to manage such projects both in Italy and abroad.

The "Atex" response to market demands

As technology advances rapidly, Miretti responds with constant research into diversification.
The interconnection between multiple areas of work, combined with meticulous knowledge of the explosion-proof world at 360°, increasingly enriches Miretti’s know-how and allows it to keep step with technological evolution focused on innovation that is achievable, efficient, safe and sustainable.
In fact, customers are increasingly demanding Explosion-Proof machines that maintain their original performance and ergonomics.

The goal, therefore, is development: to provide increasingly ergonomic and customised protection systems and increasingly less invasive solutions. For Miretti, this is possible thanks to the partnership agreements established over the years with all OEMs, large groups and leading manufacturers.

The Explosion-Proof device of the future, which Miretti is designing, is increasingly safe and, as far as possible, more agile, powerful and less cumbersome, more efficient, less invasive and ergonomic.

Miretti wants to make a difference.

In these terms, “win-win” is no longer just an abstract managerial concept but is enriched with ethical value and pragmatism when the goal is to ensure explosion protection safety in underground construction.