Special requirements exist for potentially explosive working environments within gas, oil, chemical production as well as dust-filled environments in wood-processing, ingredients and food industries.

When working in harsh and potentially explosive environments, several issues, besides the obvious risk of explosion, present themselves as possible threats to the worker. Different types of dangerous materials are often present, and staff members frequently work alone in remote areas, such as in painting or spray departments, large oil refinery plants, enclosed silos etc.

Electrical equipment, including telehones, used in potentially explosive environments must be intrinsically safe. Electrical equipment is designated as intrinsically safe when all the circuits it contains are intrinsically safe. An intrinsically safe circuit is a circuit in which the short-circuit current and no-load current are limited. This means that sparks and thermal effects capable of causing ignition cannot occur in normal operation or during a malfunction. The energy in an intrinsically safe circuit is thus less than the minimum ignition energy required for igniting an ignitable mixture.

The KIRK 4080 Handset is ATEX and IEC approved and thus approved for use in potentially explosive environments. The handset is a valuable tool for workers in these environments as it allows for them to stay in contact with colleagues when working alone in potentially dangerous work environments.