Novel sensor concepts for the compliance with the EMF directive 2013/35/EU

In July 2016, the Directive 2013/35/EU will become in force posing new requirements on European Union (EU) employers to evaluate the exposure of workers to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Implementation of these requirements is a significant challenge and could lead to a disproportionate burden for the EU economy. Current instrumentation is insufficient to demonstrate compliance with EMF exposure limits. The aim of this paper is to develop novel instrumentation concepts to facilitate the compliance assessment against Directive 2013/35/EU. In particular, different prototypes of electric field sensors measuring the induced rather than the incident fields are investigated. The development of such field sensors is of paramount importance because even non-EMF-experts, like EU employers, will be able to easily demonstrate compliance of their workplaces.