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Mixing intrinsically safe radios with regular radios

If you work in a hazardous environment or around flammable or explosive materials, the use of a standard cell phone or radio is out of the question. Such a situation requires an intrinsically safe two way radio. This type of radio is specially designed to prevent the emission of heat or sparks that could potentially ignite fuel, gasses, sawdust, or other hazardous, combustible materials and cause a fire or sudden explosion.

Companies and organizations that operate in hazmat environments every day typically do (or should) use intrinsically safe radios exclusively. Others include intrinsically safe two way radios in their fleets of radios for the occasional situation in which such a need may arise.

If your entire fleet consists of only two way radios manufactured as intrinsically safe, no worries. You're covered whether they are used in hazardous situations or in regular, safe environments.

However, if you have both types of radios together in your fleet, is this a good idea? Should you mix intrinsically safe radios with radios that are not intrinsically safe?

The simple answer is a resounding NO. You should never mix the two. It's a very risky practice, and here's why.

An intrinsically safe two way radio generally looks about the same as regular version of the same make and model. While there may be an occasional cosmetic difference, it usually isn't very noticeable.

For instance, An Icom IC-F4161 comes in both a standard and intrinsically safe version. So does the Vertex Standard VX-451. The intrinsically safe version of each radio looks almost identical to the standard version when visually inspected, until you read the labels on the battery packs or backplates of the radios themselves, which requires removal of the battery packs. This can cause a lot of confusion, because unless you closely inspect the radios, it is difficult to tell them apart.

In a hazmat situation, this sort of confusion can become hazardous in itself, as it increases the chance of the wrong radios being used.

It isn't just the radios, either. Intrinsically safe radios require the use of intrinsically safe accessories. The most obvious, of course, are the batteries, but speaker microphones with PTT (Push-To-Talk) buttons and a few other accessories that can cause a brief spark are potentially dangerous to use in a hazmat environment as well, and should be replaced with their intrinsically safe counterparts.

So, if you can't mix the two, what should you do? What are the options?

If you use radios frequently in both a hazmat and a non-hazmat environment, the obvious solution is to simply go intrinsically safe all the way. It's more expensive, but in the long (and short) run, it's safer and provides peace of mind.

However, if your radios are primarily for use in a safe operating environment but are occasionally used in hazardous situations or brief encounters with potentially hazardous or flammable materials and you need to have both types of radios handy, there is a solution.

Create two separate fleets of radios and keep both types of radios away from each other. This goes for the accessories, too. Keep one fleet or the other stored away or otherwise secured until it is needed, then completely swap out the two types of radios with all of your users.

Also, mark or color code the radios and affected accessories to clearly distinguish between the two types, so just in case something gets mixed into the wrong fleet, you will know right away.

An intrinsically safe radio is a good idea to have when working around hazardous materials, but mixing them in with standard, non-intrinsically safe radios is a bad one. Do it smart and keep intrinsically safe radios and their intrinsically safe accessories separate from regular radios and you will help to minimize the chances of making a hazardous situation worse.

For a more in-depth discussion about intrinsically safe two way radios, listen to The Two Way Radio Show Podcast TWRS-18 - Intrinsically Safe Radios

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