Occupational EMF-Exposure: A Simple Guide for Testing Compliance with Requirements of Directive 2013/35/EU

Abstract

The EU-Directive for protection of workers from exposure to electromagnetic field was implemented in Austria by national decree in 2016. To avoid a diversity of methods for EMF evaluation a national guideline R27 providing efficient assessment procedures for electricity supply systems, elaborated by an expert group of OVE (Standardization of electrotechnics), will be published soon. Simple formulas and tables containing minimum distances for compliance and relevance, based on worst case parameters are supporting a quick assessment avoiding large efforts of data acquisition in detail. Expert’s work for measuring and calculating exposure is thus needed only in specific cases of special configuration or in case of high exposure, when R27-methods fail to demonstrate compliance with action levels of 2013/35/EU.The first step of assessment of a working area is based on a concept for classification of EMF-zones with different levels of protection regarding general public, employees and young apprentices according to ICNIRP. The national decree requires to comply with the safety requirements of council recommendation 1999/EG/519 for pregnant workers and with EN 50527 for persons with AIMDs. For exposure of general public there is no decree but a national guideline as state of the art, published by OVE in 2016. Within the second step for each EMF-zone PoPs (Points of Proof, field points supposed to show maximum exposure) have to be defined. For each PoP the compliance is tested. Once the compliance of all PoPs has been proven, the compliance of the whole area can be concluded.