Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 11 October 2006. The Rose Room, Rose Court, London
Present:
| Chair: | Kevin Allars | HID, CI |
|---|---|---|
| Secretariat: | Colin Harris Richard Lomax Paula O’Shaughnessy |
HID CI4 HID CI4 HID CI4 |
| Members: | Ian McPherson Colin Chambers John Galbraith Doug Leech Hugh Bray Jeff Watson Mark Scanlon Ron Wood Mike Murray Wayne Smith Clive Tayler Richard Clarke |
UKPIA CIA Huntsman CBA TSA LPGA Energy Institute TGWU ABPI BCF EEMUA EA |
| Other HSE: | Martin Goose Linda Donachie Andy Holt Martin Anderson Pauline Nash |
HID SI5 HID CI1 HID CI5 HID HQ HID SI2 |
Kevin welcomed everyone and announced that since the last meeting Roger Ward-Dutton had replaced John Burns as the SEPA representative.
Apologies were received from Phil McNulty (TGWU), Martyn Lyons (Simon Storage/TSA), Doug Russell (USDAW), Malcolm Bonnett (Amicus) and Roger Ward-Dutton (SEPA).
There were no amendments to the CDOIF minutes from 18th July 2006.
Item 4.1 Kevin updated the members on progress with the implementation of the 2005 Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order at COMAH sites. This legislation had come into force in England and Wales on 1st October 2006. The main change for COMAH sites was that local Fire Authorities would assume responsibility for overseeing general fire precautions, while HSE would continue to oversee process fire precautions. Kevin explained that the demarcation between the two types of fire precaution was being finalised by HSE and the Fire & Rescue Authorities, and would be detailed in an Annex to HSE's updated guidance produced in November.
Action - Colin Harris to inform members of the outcome of the meeting between HSE and the Fire Authorities on 10th October.
Item 6.1 Paula had distributed the draft HSE Research Report on Ageing Plant and Harry Bainbridge's Powerpoint presentation from the July CDOIF.
Item 6.2 Paula had distributed Mike Skellett's Powerpoint presentation on atmospheric storage tanks from the July CDOIF.
No members' issues were raised.
Colin Harris gave feedback on the Seveso II CCA meeting in Finland on 4th-6th October. Tim Beals had represented HSE at this meeting.
The CCA had discussed the adequacy of the provision of Emergency Planning information to members of the public living near top-tier sites. The Seveso II Competent Authorities had recently submitted reports to the Commission. For the UK, of the ~400 top-tier sites, 93 had provided no or inadequate information to the public. Colin added that the proportion of UK top-tier sites having off-site Emergency Plans had increased since the previous submission in 2002. According to the latest submissions in April 2006, 95% of top-tier sites in the UK now had off-site Emergency Plans.
Colin brought to members' attention the possible implications for Seveso II/COMAH of adopting the Global Harmonisation of Substances (GHS) scheme for classifying chemicals. It had not been agreed how the generic GHS classes of hazardous substances such as toxics and flammables would trigger COMAH. Colin reminded members that the European Commission was running a public consultation on GHS until 21st October. John Galbraith asked how other member states were reacting to the prospect of GHS replacing the CHIP Regulations. Colin relayed that there was concern among the CCA about possible increases in the scope of Seveso II/COMAH. Kevin mentioned that Kevin Myers was looking into this issue during a trip to Brussels and that he would feed back any further information.
Colin then summarised some of the discussions at the CCA meeting about storing gas in underground caverns. Issues considered included the volumes of hazardous gas being stored and the COMAH status of caverns where gases had been reintroduced into the ground after processing.
Colin also gave an update on discussions between COMAH regulators in different CAs. Following the Mutual Joint Visits in Belgium and Bootle held during the past year consideration had been given to the best way to share information such as examples of industry best practice. It had been acknowledged that to do this effectively using a website would require good stewardship and an objective approach.
Richard Lomax brought the meeting up to date with some European legislative changes which would affect the CHIP and COMAH regulations.
Firstly he described some unforeseen consequences of the 2nd Adaptation to Technical Progress (ATP) of the Dangerous Preparations Directive. The legislation had been voted on in Europe in January 2006 and had been originally expected to come into force in the UK in March 2007. The main effect of the ATP was that the concentration limits for classifying preparations containing some environmentally active substances would be reduced; for some substances the limits would be reduced by a factor of 10,000. One unintentional consequence of the legislation would be to bring a large number of inappropriate sites such as large DIY stores into the scope of COMAH, due to the storage of products containing dilute biocides, such as paints. Richard explained that to avoid this scenario HSE was looking into postponing the implementation of the ATP and introducing an exemption into the COMAH Regulations.
Richard also explained that the draft 30th ATP of the Dangerous Substances Directive was expected to be voted on later in the year. He revealed that HSE had identified that the draft ATP contained 108 changes to substance classifications which would potentially affect COMAH. The list of substances was available in an Excel file and included several phosphides and compounds of cobalt and nickel. Anyone wanting a copy was asked to contact Richard.
Richard gave more details of the potential effects on COMAH of the introduction of GHS. A European Technical Working Group coordinated by HSE was in the process of looking at how using various GHS hazard classes would affect the number of premises captured by COMAH. He explained that for explosives the GHS and CHIP criteria were similar, but for other hazardous properties, flammability and toxicity, the two classification systems, did not tend to marry up. The Commission proposed an option to keep the present classification criteria for COMAH purposes, although it was recognised that this would require manufacturers to provide dual classification for chemicals. The Technical Working Group was expected to produce its final report by March 2007.
Richard also gave an update on REACH. The previous day Lord Rooker had announced that HSE would form the Competent Authority for the Regulation with a helpdesk being set up to support UK business in the run-up to it being implemented in 2007 [The telephone number for the helpdesk is 0845 408 9575 and the email address is UKREACHCA@hse.gsi.gov.uk].
Pauline Nash provided members with details of a project set up by HSE to explore alternative ways of recovering the costs of regulatory activities from COMAH operators. She explained that both HSE and COMAH operators had recognised that the present charging regime was problematical, with operators finding it difficult to forecast costs and HSE finding it difficult to forecast receipts. The issue of charging had been discussed in 2001 when a levy-based regime and a "halfway house" component-based regime had been proposed, but not taken forward. Pauline explained that her project would be looking again at the options from 2001 in the light of the Regulation and Recognition initiative, and that HSE were setting up an internal working group and a steering group to take this forward. Kevin appealed for volunteers to join the project team.
Kevin gave an update on this initiative, now chaired by DTI, to target inspections at premises where they will be most effective. He explained that having produced a draft safety management scoring model and looking at examples of good practice in industry, the project team were now focussing on dutyholders with health and safety records from the other end of the spectrum. The next step would be to trial the scoring model on all sites regulated from within one of HSE's regional offices. Kevin reminded members that as the project was driven by the Hampton Review it needed to reach a clear conclusion.
Kevin announced that the previous week the Group had held the first meeting since being reconstituted. The Group included representation from industry, trades unions, emergency planning authorities and the emergency services as well as COMAH regulators.
Kevin confirmed that he would be responding to members who had written to him expressing their views on the way the Research Report discussed at the July meeting was being badged and taken forward. He acknowledged that the Report needed to be placed in the right context before the final version was launched.
Andy Holt gave a presentation on a project to assess the use of Magnetic Flux Leakage for determining the integrity of atmospheric storage tank floors. The project had been directed by a Steering Committee involving service providers, equipment manufacturers, end users, NDT consultants and HSE, with Mitsui Babcock making the actual scanning measurements. Andy explained that the project was intended to establish a consensus on when the technique should be considered to be good industry practice, rather than simply an alternative to using spot ultrasonics. Andy asked members if HSE should be consulting with any industry bodies other than the TSA, EEMUA, EI, CIA and UKPIA. Wayne Smith replied that he would ask BCF if they wanted to be involved in the consultation and asked for a copy of Andy's presentation.
Action - Secretariat to circulate Andy's Powerpoint presentation
Colin Harris gave an update on HID's 5-year Regulatory Strategy for the Chemical Industry. He explained that HSE was keen to promote partnerships with industry stakeholders to agree what was good practice and what was best practice in a given situation. Colin acknowledged that good practice changed with technological advances, and suggested that industry were best placed to consider this. HSE had met with stakeholders in the chlorine and pharmaceutical sectors to discuss covenants setting out expectations for both regulators and industry. Hugh Bray and Mark Scanlon asked for some clarification on what these covenants would involve. Kevin responded by giving the example of agreements between HSE and the relevant industry, which had set out a timescale for implementing improved standards at appropriate sites in the aftermath of Buncefield. Wayne Smith asked whether there would be penalties for stakeholders who did not sign up to covenants, to which Kevin replied that although this was the case with the Dutch model, the status of covenants in the UK was developing along slightly different lines.
Martin Anderson presented an overview of how HSE's human factors inspectors had been working with stakeholders in the oil and gas industries to prevent major accidents, and the challenges being faced. He noted that many sectors of the chemical industry were experiencing an increased rate of organisational change. Martin also explained that there was a poor correlation between loss of containment incidents and personal injuries in the workplace, and that there was still a tendency for safety professionals to look at worker behaviour only after focusing on engineering and systems issues. He reminded members that there was a lot of useful information on human factors elements and errors on HSE's website, including a list of "Top 10" Human Factors topics. Mark Scanlon announced that HSE's Human Factors team already contributed to the Energy Institute's Human Factors working group. Clive Tayler explained that EEMUA was currently developing a second edition of its Publication 191 concerning the management of alarm systems, and was about to start a review of its Publication 201 on human-machine interfaces. Both of these publications had received significant HSE input, and he anticipated further consultations with HSE on the new editions. Martin Goose asked whether industry stakeholders had started recruiting their own Human Factors specialists, to which Martin Anderson replied that they tended to rely on external consultants.
Action - Secretariat to circulate Martin's Powerpoint presentation
Kevin updated the members on the investigations into the Buncefield incident. He announced that the following day the joint industry/CA Task Group would be publishing an initial report. This would describe several actions which the petrochemical industry had agreed to take to improve safety standards at fuel storage depots. These actions went beyond the good practice specified in existing HSE and Institute of Petroleum guidance. Kevin added that HSE, EA and SEPA were planning to produce updates of their findings in November. No decision on possible prosecutions had been made as yet.
Kevin reported that a group set up to investigate the loss of containment incident at Terra Nitrogen and its implications for similar sites had been set up. The Policy and Procedures Review for the investigation would be looking at HSE's regulatory activity with the company prior to the incident.
Kevin informed the members of a large fire at a site in Cheltenham making chlorine-based swimming pool disinfectant. The local fire brigade had made the decision to contain the fire and let it burn itself out. This had led to the loss of virtually the entire inventory on the site, and it was possible that the incident would be reported to the European Commission.
Linda Donachie gave an informative presentation on the fire in 2004 at the Shanks waste processing site in Hartlepool, and the lessons to be learned from it. She explained that a major failing of the company had been to store water-reactive lithium on the site which had no facilities for handling it. However a number of other contraventions and failings had contributed to the incident. Linda declared that although this type of site was small and outside the scope of COMAH, there was still the potential for serious accidents. She added that documented safety standards were not always a good guide to competence onsite. Martin Goose made the point that it was important for company management to carry out visits to the sites of their key contractors as well as their own sites.
Doug Leech gave details of a recent large warehouse fire at a lower tier site in Spain. As a consequence of the fire brigade's response a local river had been polluted.
Richard Lomax presented the following information items:
Colin Chambers announced that the CIA would be holding a symposium with HSE on "Major Hazards: Regulatory and Management Developments". It was being held in Manchester on 21st November and would be open to anyone to attend, although places were limited.
Action: Secretariat to circulate details to members.
Clive Tayler and Mark Scanlon informed members that a US company had been publicising some joint UK-US research into the adequacy of systems protecting floating roof storage tanks from lightning strikes. However both EEMUA and the Energy Institute were uncomfortable with the way the work was being publicised, as the research was still ongoing.
The meeting closed at 2.15 pm. The next CDOIF would be held on Wednesday 7th March in Redgrave Court, Bootle.
