Dr. Andrzej Wolff, Managing Director of Polish company Grupa Wolff, will be presenting a new, innovative approach to risk assessment for combustible dusts at Hazardex Live 2025.

Current techniques for assessing the risk of explosion are generally based on arbitrarily accepted quantities and a subjective assessment of the situation. The author has concluded that a new approach to risk assessment is needed. He proposes the AW-OZ approach, which allows a quantitative assessment of the process and explosion hazards of typical process equipment and installation for processing bulk materials containing combustible and explosive dusts. The approach is based on process data and takes into account the design and operating conditions of the equipment and installations, as well as the possible presence of typical ignition sources. It follows the provisions of Article 4 of the ATEX USER directive on explosion risk assessment.

About the author:

Dr. Andrzej Wolff received his doctorate in technical sciences, specializing in chemical engineering, from Cracow University of Technology in 1978, where he was awarded the Third Degree Award of the Minister of Higher Education. In 1987, he earned his habilitated doctor degree in system engineering from Warsaw University of Technology's Institute of Chemical and Process Engineering. His academic career includes positions as Visiting Assistant Professor at Brown University, Research Associate at Queens University, and Humboldt Foundation scholarship recipient at the University Erlangen-Nuremberg. Until 2002, he was a faculty member at the Cracow University of Technology Institute of Chemical Engineering. In 1994, he founded GRUPA WOLFF, where he has conducted more than 350 explosion risk assessments, delivered ATEX safety audits and trainings for more than 100 industrial companies, and presented at numerous technical conferences. In addition, his early career included training at PKN Orlen S.A. and extensive work in the field of process equipment protection.