Explain “authority having jurisdiction” (AHJ) and who has the authority to classify a hazardous location?
• AHJ Definition: The organization, office, or individual that has the responsibility and authority for approving equipment, installations, or procedures. This term has an extremely broad meaning. It could be a federal law that set the conditions, which determines the AHJ. In a small town sewage system it may be the town’s civil engineer that sets the AHJ. It could also be the owner of a piece of property that houses a hazardous location. On that persons property he/she may be the AHJ. OSHA is the AHJ when it comes to employee safety. An example of that would be an electric panel in a hazardous location. The OSHA laws (example – Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations Part 1910) govern employee safety like adequate ventilation, confined space entry precautions and adequate area in which to work on an electric panel. Many chemical manufacturers, oil producing companies, the wood and pulp industry are their own AHJ. They best understand the situation at hand and are the best equipped to ha
