In the Ph. D. thesis, the risk assessment of the application of electrical drives in areas at risk of explosive atmospheres has been researched teoretically and empirically. Based on experience, it has been assessed that faults in the rotor cage of the squirrel-cage induction motor, depending on the intensity of the fault, could generate an effective source of ignition of surrounding explosive atmospheres. The squirrel-cage induction motor has been selected as a key component in electrical drives installed in hazardous areas. By detailed study of modern diagnostic methods for early detection of faults in the rotor cage of the squirrel-cage induction motor, the spectrum analysis of the stator current has been found to be the most appropriate for application in areas at risk of explosive atmospheres. Using this method, the fault in the rotor cage can be detected and its intensity determined. Comprehensive tests performed on the ”Ex e II T3” squirrel-cage induction motor rated 47 kW, 380 V, 50 Hz, have verified that an occurrence of several broken bars in the rotor cage in an explosive atmosphere of acetylene will lead to an explosion. This approved the basic thesis that a hot surface generated by a fault on a rotor cage can initiate an explosion when it coincides with explosive atmosphere. This research uncovered the possibilities of the existence of effective sources of ignition due to faults in the rotor cage of the squirrel-cage induction motor, which cannot be detected without the use of modern diagnostic methods. A new method for the risk assessment of the application of electrical drives in areas at risk of explosive atmospheres has been developed, with categorization in four quantitative-qualitative levels: acceptable, tolerable, unacceptable and direct danger.