From vulnerable sites to network‑wide compliance: Creating a DSEAR blueprint

Published: 16 December 2025

Alongside all the other things keeping them awake at night, operators face mounting pressure to demonstrate compliance with The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) throughout their networks. The biggest challenges? Limited resources, ageing assets, complex infrastructure, and evolving risks such as hydrogen readiness and digitalisation.

Our approach addresses these concerns by starting where risk is highest – conducting comprehensive DSEAR risk assessments on a hand-picked group of vulnerable sites – then organising those outputs into a strategic blueprint for network‑wide compliance. In addition, we provide the tools, templates and governance models needed for rollout, plus additional support where needed for remediations, competency uplift, and digital integration.

Step 1: Assess the vulnerable sites

We begin with a targeted cohort of high‑risk locations: perhaps older AGIs, complex PRS assets, or sites with known maintenance gaps.

Our service portfolio includes:

DSEAR site audit (desktop and on-site)
Electrical and mechanical equipment assessment
Hazardous area classification & drawings (SR/25 Edition II)
DSEAR risk assessment
Ignition source identification assessment
Specialist studies (lightning, RF, battery installations, static)
Competency and ATEX compliance checks

Our examination reveals any systemic issues, such as bonding gaps, flange protection failures, corrosion, lubrication deficiencies, missing asset IDs and such, and translates them into actionable data to inform a programme of remediations.

Step 2: Build the strategic blueprint

From these pilot assessments, we create a replicable compliance framework that includes:

Standardised inspection checklists linked to asset classes
Drawing conventions for hazardous zones
Remedial libraries that include design templates, calculation tools, and safety checks to mitigate ignition risks and aligned to ACOP L138
Competency matrices for roles requiring CompEx or process safety sign‑off
Data recommendations for integration with client systems

This blueprint becomes your DSEAR guide – playbook, even – that will support consistent, auditable compliance across the network.

Step 3: Deliver and support rollout

We provide the blueprint as a complete package, ready for your internal teams or contractors to deploy. But we also offer additional support where needed:

Programme management for phased rollout by asset type
Competency training and governance
Remedial implementation support for high‑risk findings
Integrating standardised data models into existing ways of working

Our goal is to make compliance scalable, cost‑predictable, and future proof.

Why this approach works

This approach aligns with what is front of mind throughout the gas sector right now, including RIIO‑2 investment goals, hydrogen readiness, the move towards digitalisation, protecting consumer affordability, and more. It means that DSEAR isn’t yet another job to add to these pre-occupations, but a job that integrates perfectly with them.

Moreover, by starting with vulnerable sites, this model ensures risk is reduced first where it matters most, addressing critical hazards early.

At the same time, the blueprint process creates long‑term value by providing a strategy that can flex to apply anywhere. Carrying out future assessments becomes a little faster, audits a little simpler, and these replicable actions provide a compass for compliance across the entire network.

Starting small doesn’t mean thinking small. By partnering with us, operators turn a handful of high‑risk sites into a network‑wide compliance strategy, with the confidence that expert support is available at every stage.