Hazardous areas are defined by what can go wrong when equipment fails. In an oil and gas processing plant, a pharmaceutical production facility, or a chemical refinery, the presence of flammable gases, vapors, or combustible dusts means that any electronic device that enters those zones must be certified to prevent it from becoming an ignition source.
For most of the history of real-time location systems, this requirement created a hard boundary. RTLS could track assets and personnel across standard industrial environments, but the classified zones at the heart of the highest-risk operations remained visibility blind spots. Tracking stopped where the hazardous area began.
That boundary no longer holds. Intrinsically safe RTLS hardware certified for ATEX Zone 1 and Zone 2 environments now brings the same real-time visibility available in standard areas into classified zones. This guide explains how the certification framework works, what operational problems it solves, and what to look for when evaluating a system.
Understanding ATEX Zone Classifications
ATEX is the European Union framework governing equipment used in explosive atmospheres, based on Directive 2014/34/EU. It classifies hazardous locations into zones according to how frequently an explosive atmosphere is likely to be present, and assigns equipment categories to match each zone’s risk level.
The zone system is also used by IECEx, the international certification scheme accepted outside the EU in Australia, South Africa, the Middle East, and other regions. Since 2005, the technical standards underpinning both frameworks are essentially identical. The practical difference is jurisdictional: ATEX is EU law; IECEx is internationally recognized but voluntary. Many manufacturers hold dual certification to satisfy both.
| Zone | Explosive Atmosphere | ATEX Category | IECEx EPL | Litum ATEX Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 0 | Continuously present (inside vessels, pipework) | Category 1G | Ga | Not targeted |
| Zone 1 | Present during normal operation | Category 2G | Gb | ATEX Gateway + Dualis Tag |
| Zone 2 | Present only in abnormal conditions | Category 3G | Gc | ATEX Gateway + Dualis Tag |
| Zone 21 | Dust cloud present during normal operation | Category 2D | Db | Consult Litum |
| Zone 22 | Dust cloud in abnormal conditions only | Category 3D | Dc | Consult Litum |
For RTLS deployments, Zone 1 is typically the critical threshold. It covers areas where explosive gas atmospheres are present under normal operating conditions, including most active processing areas in oil and gas facilities, chemical plants, and pharmaceutical production environments. Zone 2 covers adjacent areas where explosive conditions occur only during abnormal events, and typically accommodates a wider range of certified equipment.
Why Standard RTLS Cannot Enter Hazardous Areas
Standard industrial RTLS hardware, including conventional UWB tags, BLE beacons, and Wi-Fi access points, is not designed to prevent ignition. The electronic components inside them can generate sparks or reach surface temperatures that, in the presence of flammable gas or dust, would trigger an explosion.
Intrinsically safe design addresses this at the hardware level. Intrinsically safe equipment limits the electrical and thermal energy available in the circuit to levels below what can ignite the target explosive atmosphere, even under fault conditions. This is not achieved through protective enclosures alone. It requires fundamental engineering of the circuit design, component selection, and energy storage to ensure that no failure mode can produce enough energy to cause ignition.
The result is that intrinsically safe RTLS hardware looks similar to its standard counterparts but has been designed, tested, and certified to operate safely in environments where standard equipment cannot go. Certification bodies verify compliance against IEC 60079, the international standard governing both the ATEX framework in Europe and the IECEx scheme globally.
| Tracking stopped where the hazardous area began. Intrinsically safe RTLS changes that, bringing real-time visibility into the zones where the risk is highest. |
What Poor Visibility Actually Costs in Hazardous Areas
Before evaluating what RTLS can do in classified zones, it is worth understanding what operating without real-time visibility actually costs. In oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and mining facilities, the consequences of poor asset and personnel visibility are not just operational inefficiencies.
- Workers enter high-risk zones unnecessarily. When a tool or piece of equipment cannot be located, personnel physically search for it. In a classified zone, every unnecessary entry is an additional exposure event.
- Maintenance windows overrun. The right tool or spare part cannot be located, work orders cannot proceed on schedule, and planned maintenance stretches into unplanned downtime.
- Equipment accountability breaks down. Tools and assets approved for classified zones can be left behind after maintenance tasks. Standard equipment, not rated for the zone, can be carried in. Without real-time visibility, neither situation is detected until a physical audit or an incident triggers a search.
- Permit-to-work compliance is difficult to document. Hazardous area operations run on permit-to-work systems that define who is authorized to enter specific zones and under what conditions. Without a digital record of actual personnel presence, compliance documentation depends on manual logs that are incomplete by nature.
How Intrinsically Safe RTLS Works in Practice
A hazardous area RTLS deployment for classified zones uses the same fundamental architecture as standard RTLS: tags carried by assets or personnel, infrastructure receivers that capture tag signals, and a software platform that translates location data into operational visibility. The difference is that every hardware component must carry the appropriate ATEX or IECEx certification for the zones it enters.
ATEX-Certified Tags
Personnel and asset tags worn or attached within classified zones must be certified for the highest zone they enter. A tag that will operate in a Zone 1 environment requires Category 2G certification (or equivalent EPL Gb). Tags certified for Zone 2 only carry Category 3G. Litum’s ATEX Dualis Tag is certified for both Zone 1 and Zone 2 environments, allowing a single tag to follow workers and assets across zone boundaries without restriction.
ATEX-Certified Gateways
Location infrastructure installed within classified zones, the receivers or access points that capture tag signals, must also carry appropriate certification. Litum’s ATEX Gateway is certified for Zone 1 and Zone 2 operation, enabling infrastructure deployment inside the classified areas rather than relying on external readers to approximate location at zone boundaries.
Platform Integration
The location data generated by ATEX-certified hardware flows into the same Litum platform used across the rest of the facility. This means hazardous area visibility is not a separate system with its own dashboard and data silo. Operations teams see a unified real-time view of the entire facility, classified zones included, with zone-specific rules, alerts, and reporting layered on top of the same infrastructure.
Core Use Cases in Hazardous Area RTLS
Asset and Tool Tracking
In hazardous environments, tool and asset tracking carries compliance implications beyond operational efficiency. Tools left in classified zones after maintenance tasks create unaccounted hazards. Standard equipment carried into a classified zone without authorization is both a safety risk and a regulatory violation.
With ATEX-certified tags on critical tools and assets, operations teams can see in real time where every tagged item is located, which zone it occupies, and when it crosses a zone boundary in either direction. Zone-exit alerts flag items remaining in a classified area after a maintenance window closes, and unauthorized equipment movement triggers immediate notification.
Personnel Safety and Presence Verification
The ATEX Dualis Tag gives workers a wearable location device that functions safely even in Zone 1 environments. Combined with ATEX Gateway infrastructure, facilities get a continuous real-time view of workforce presence and movement across classified zones.
Zone-based rules layer on top of location data to enforce access control digitally: alerts fire when personnel without the appropriate permit enter a restricted area, and the system creates a timestamped, auditable record of who was present in which zone and for how long. For lone workers in remote or isolated classified areas, presence monitoring and duress alerting are built into the same wearable. Litum’s ATEX Dualis Tag integrates lone worker device functionality directly, so a single wearable covers location tracking, zone compliance, and personal safety without requiring a separate device.
Permit-to-Work Support
Permit-to-work systems define the conditions under which work may proceed in hazardous areas. RTLS data supports permit compliance by providing an objective, digital record of actual worker presence that matches, or fails to match, the authorized personnel list on each active permit. Deviations are flagged in real time rather than discovered after the fact during a manual audit.
Emergency Mustering in Hazardous Areas
In the event of a process release, fire, or other emergency in or near a classified zone, knowing exactly who is present and where they are is operationally critical. A digital mustering system built on RTLS infrastructure produces a real-time roll call in seconds, identifying unaccounted personnel by last known location rather than relying on manual headcount under emergency conditions. The timestamped evacuation record also satisfies the documentation requirements of most facility emergency response plans.
What to Look for When Evaluating ATEX RTLS Vendors
The ATEX RTLS vendor landscape is smaller than the broader industrial RTLS market, and the differences between vendors matter more because hardware certification is non-negotiable.
Zone 1 vs Zone 2 Certification
Confirm the specific zone certifications held by every hardware component in the proposed deployment: tags, gateways, and any ancillary infrastructure. A system where the tags carry Zone 1 certification but the gateways are Zone 2 only cannot be fully deployed inside Zone 1 areas. Both Litum’s ATEX Gateway and ATEX Dualis Tag carry Zone 1 and Zone 2 certification, allowing deployment without zone-level hardware segmentation.
ATEX and IECEx Dual Certification
For organizations operating across multiple geographies, dual ATEX and IECEx certification on the same hardware eliminates the need to maintain separate approved equipment lists for EU and non-EU sites. For EU deployments, ATEX certification is mandatory. For international sites, confirm whether the hardware is designed to IEC 60079 standards, which underpin both ATEX and IECEx, and whether the vendor can support the regional certification assessment required for your specific country and site classification.
Platform Integration with Non-Hazardous Areas
A classified zone RTLS deployment that operates on its own platform, separate from the rest of the facility’s location infrastructure, creates exactly the data silo problem it was supposed to solve. Evaluate whether the vendor’s ATEX hardware integrates with the same platform used in standard areas, so hazardous zone visibility is additive rather than parallel.
Hardware Ownership and Support
In a classified zone, hardware failure has different consequences than in a standard warehouse. The ability to diagnose, replace, and certify replacement hardware quickly requires a vendor who manufactures and supports their own hardware rather than sourcing from third parties. Ask explicitly: who manufactures your ATEX tags and gateways, and what is your replacement process for certified hardware in production?
Frequently Asked Questions
What RTLS systems are used in ATEX hazardous environments?
RTLS systems used in ATEX hazardous environments must use intrinsically safe hardware certified for the specific zones they enter. This includes certified tags worn by personnel or attached to assets, and certified infrastructure receivers installed within the classified area. UWB and BLE-enabled systems like Litum’s ATEX Family provide high-precision location accuracy in Zone 1 and Zone 2 environments, combining UWB sub-meter precision for personnel safety applications with BLE coverage for broader asset tracking, all on a single intrinsically safe infrastructure certified for operation in explosive atmospheres. The underlying technology must comply with IEC 60079 standards, which govern both the ATEX framework in Europe and the IECEx scheme used globally.
How do companies meet ATEX Zone 1 and Zone 2 tracking requirements?
Meeting ATEX tracking requirements involves three layers: hardware certification, zone-appropriate deployment, and operational integration. Hardware used in Zone 1 must carry Category 2G certification (EPL Gb); hardware used in Zone 2 requires minimum Category 3G. Certified tags and gateways must be installed and maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions and any site-specific ATEX documentation. Operationally, the tracking system should generate the auditable records needed to demonstrate permit-to-work compliance and personnel accountability during regulatory audits. Vendors whose hardware is designed to IEC 60079, the standard underlying both ATEX and IECEx frameworks, provide the strongest foundation for multi-geography deployments. For sites outside the EU, confirm that the vendor can assess the applicable regional certification path rather than assuming automatic equivalence.
How do I track workers in hazardous areas in real time?
Real-time worker tracking in hazardous areas requires wearable tags certified for the zones the workers enter. In Zone 1 environments, this means Category 2G certified personal tags. The tag communicates its position to ATEX-certified infrastructure receivers installed within or adjacent to the classified area, and location data updates continuously on the operations platform. Zone-based rules can be configured to alert when personnel enter restricted areas without authorization, when workers are present beyond expected time windows, or when lone workers in isolated areas stop moving, triggering a welfare check protocol. The same infrastructure supports duress alerting and emergency mustering.
What industries use ATEX RTLS most commonly?
ATEX RTLS is most commonly deployed in oil and gas production and processing, petrochemical and chemical manufacturing, pharmaceutical production, mining operations, energy and utilities infrastructure, and heavy industrial manufacturing involving flammable materials. Any industry where classified hazardous areas coexist with the need for real-time asset and personnel visibility is a candidate for ATEX-certified RTLS deployment.
What is the difference between ATEX and IECEx certification for RTLS?
ATEX is a mandatory EU legal requirement under Directive 2014/34/EU. Equipment used in explosive atmospheres within EU member states must carry ATEX certification issued by an EU Notified Body. IECEx is an international voluntary certification scheme that uses technically identical standards to ATEX but is accepted in non-EU jurisdictions including Australia, the Middle East, and South Africa. For RTLS vendors, dual ATEX and IECEx certification on the same hardware provides a single approved product that satisfies requirements across both EU and international deployments. Litum’s ATEX Family hardware holds certification compliant with IEC 60079, the standard underlying both frameworks.
