Electrical equipment in hazardous areas

In electrical engineering, hazardous locations (sometimes abbreviated to HazLoc, pronounced Haz·Lōk) are defined as places where fire or explosion hazards may exist due to flammable gases, flammable liquid–produced vapors, combustible liquid–produced vapors, combustible dusts, or ignitable fibers/flyings present in the air in quantities sufficient to produce explosive or ignitable mixtures. Electrical equipment that must be installed in such classified locations should be specially designed and tested to ensure it does not initiate an explosion, due to arcing contacts or high surface temperature of equipment.