Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 18 July 2006. Room 6.1.026 Redgrave Court, Bootle
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 Martyn Lyons Jeff Watson Mark Scanlon Ron Wood Mike Murray Paul Reuter Clive Tayler Richard Clarke |
UKPIA CIA Huntsman BCDTA TSA/Simon Storage LPGA Energy Institute TGWU ABPI Amicus EEMUA EA |
| Other HSE: | Kirstin Wattie Harry Bainbridge Mike Skellett David Painter Anton Wilson Martin Goose |
HID CI4 HID CI5 HID CI1 HID CI5 HID HQ HID SI5 |
Kevin welcomed everyone and apologised for having to change the date of the meeting from June. He introduced Paula O’Shaughnessy, who had taken over the role of organising meetings as Colette Fitzpatrick was on secondment to the Buncefield Response Team, and Richard Lomax who was acting as Secretary. Since the last meeting Colin Chambers had replaced Nick Berentzen as the CIA representative.
Apologies were received from Malcolm Bonnett (Amicus), Hugh Bray (TSA), Roger Alesbury (CIA/BP), Wayne Smith (BCF), Doug Russell (USDAW), John Burns (SEPA) and Bill Mayes (Exxonmobil/UKPIA).
There were no amendments to the minutes of the meeting of 1 March 2006.
Item 3.6: Colette had already sent out a Glossary of terms sheet.
Item 4.1: At the March CDOIF Doug Leech had asked about how the implementation of the 2005 Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order would affect fire certification at COMAH sites. Kevin reported that HSE and other Government Departments were currently discussing enforcement issues and demarcation, but despite delays it was still scheduled to come into effect on 1st October 2006. On that date most premises whose fire precautions had been under the remit of HSE would become the responsibility of local Fire Authorities, and the relevant information would be transferred from HSE’s Fire Certificate database. Kevin explained that HSE’s OC 217 guidance was in the process of being revised in consultation with stakeholders and other Government Departments. It had been suggested that demarcation of enforcement would involve local agreements either as letters of understanding or Memorandum of Understanding.
Action - Kevin to inform members of the terms of reference once they had been agreed.
Item 5.9: Colette had already informed members of the publication of the revised Safety Report Assessment Manual (SRAM).
No members’ issues were raised.
Kirstin Wattie described the implications for the COMAH Regulations of adoption of the Global Harmonisation of Substances (GHS) scheme. Kirsten explained that when GHS comes into force in the EU several hazard classes of chemicals, including the toxic and very toxic classes, will be replaced by new classes based on different criteria. Although it had not been decided which new generic classes would come under the remit of Seveso II/COMAH, there was the potential for sites with very limited major hazard potential to come into scope of the Regulations. Kirsten explained that HSE was coordinating an EU Technical Working Group to find the best option for linking GHS with Seveso II/COMAH. HSE was also keen to introduce a “technical filter” into Seveso II/COMAH to prevent substances with limited major hazard potential from bringing sites, such as chrome electroplating works and aluminium smelting plants, into scope. Kirsten explained that according to current plans GHS was expected to be introduced in 2008 and would replace the CHIP Regulations over a 2-3 year transition period. Further information on GHS is available on the UN website at http://www.unece.org/trans/danger/publi/ghs/ghs_welcome_e.html.
Jeff Watson asked if the GHS scheme would replace the current classification scheme for transport, and whether there was a forum for discussion at EU level. Doug Leech explained that the Transport Regulations were on a 2-year rolling cycle. Kevin commented that the Chemicals Regulatory Forum (CRF) at the DTI provided advance warning of EU regulatory changes, and that he would be attending a meeting next month. Other organisations at CDOIF were also represented at CRF.
Kirstin also gave an update of the revision of SRAM. This project had been started after the Stakeholder Workshop in 2005, and the redrafting team had included a representative of the CIA. The revised manual would be used to assess all Safety Reports submitted from July onwards, and it was intended that the timescale of Safety Report assessment would be decreased from 12 months to 6 months. The revised SRAM also covered assessment by EA and SEPA and was available on HSE’s website.
Harry Bainbridge gave a presentation on a new Research Report produced by the consortium responsible for the Risk Based Inspection report. Harry explained that the new report was not official HSE guidance or policy, but contained a lot of useful guidance on how to assess ageing in vessels and pipework. A key part was an audit tool describing the capabilities and limitations of Non-Destructive Testing. Harry revealed that this was the first HSE Research Report which had been sent out for external consultation, and that the comments received were in the process of being addressed. Harry explained that the final version of the report would be available in the next couple of months, and that Kevin would be giving a presentation on the subject at the IMechE in November. Ian McPherson and Jeff Watson pointed out that UKPIA and the LPGA had not been asked to comment so far. Kevin asked that this be rectified.
Action – Paula to send out draft Research Report and Harry’s presentation to CDOIF members by email, in order that members can comment.
Mike Skellett gave an update on the project assessing atmospheric storage tank integrity. Since June 2005 he had visited about 12 sites with this type of tank, and he showed examples of good and poor industry practice. Mike explained that horizontal tanks, second hand tanks and HDPE thermal tanks were more prone to leakage, particularly when they lacked records of the code of manufacture. Corrosion under insulation was another common problem, and many leaks had been found to occur from tanks with flat-bottomed floors. Mike’s findings will be summarised in a technical report published on the HSE website. At a future CDOIF meeting it is intended that Andy Holt will give a presentation on how tank floor scanning could be used to assess integrity.
Action – Paula to send out Mike’s presentation by email.
Colin Harris described three issues addressed by HID’s 5-year Strategy for the Chemical Industry.
7.1 Colin explained that one aim of the Strategy was to achieve greater consistency of action by teams in the field. The intention was to retain HSE’s corporate knowledge and make it available to the field teams in a digestible form.
7.2 Colin declared that a key part of the Strategy involved HSE entering into partnership with industry stakeholders. The recent audit of chlorine sites in North West England had identified the benefits of HSE and industry sharing good practice, and covenants were being discussed with the chlorine and pharmaceutical sectors. John Galbraith agreed that a similar approach was working well between his company and regulatory authorities in the Netherlands. Clive Tayler made the point that while vertical focus, such as the use of sector-specific strategies, was useful for organisations such as HSE, horizontal awareness was also important. Clive explained that within EEMUA, members from different industry sectors, notably the chemical, pharmaceutical, power generation/utilities, oil, gas and storage/distribution sectors, had found significant benefits in sharing knowledge and experiences.
Martin Goose asked whether the public living near COMAH sites would be involved in a partnership approach, to which Kevin responded by recognising that there was no direct involvement at present, although the Land Use Planning system was under review. Kevin pointed out that the fact that the Buncefield Task Group had an industry chairman showed HSE’s commitment to entering into partnerships with industry stakeholders.
7.3 Colin reported that the Strategy would be discussed internally. He noted that the Strategy did not cover reactive investigations such as Buncefield, and that timescales might change in response to reactive workload.
Kevin gave an update on the incident at Buncefield. The joint industry-CA Task Group was working well, with Shell’s Ken Rivers as chairman, and would be producing an update report in September 2006 and revised guidance in July 2007. Following the first Safety Alert in February a report on the initial findings and industry responses had been published on HSE’s website on 14 June. On 4th July a further Safety Alert had been published, requiring operators of oil/fuel storage facilities similar to Buncefield to check level switches installed in storage tanks. Kevin explained that the Major Incident Investigation Board had produced an initial report on 13th July, summarising the three previous reports, and would likely be producing its next report by the end of the year. There was no information yet on possible prosecutions. From the review of Land Use Planning around oil/fuel storage sites it was intended to issue a public consultation document later in 2006. The Policy and Procedures Review (previously the Prior Role Review) would be available in 2007. Kevin also informed the members that on July 19th there would be a debate in the House of Commons in response to a request by Mike Penning, the local MP for Buncefield.
Kevin gave a summary of the incident at the Terra Nitrogen ammonia plant in Billingham on June 1st. This had led to a mixture of hydrogen, nitrogen and ammonia leaking from a valve body and spontaneously igniting. Although the leak had been isolated very quickly Kevin revealed that HSE was considering making it a Major Incident. If this was the case it was likely that the Incident Board would look at other recent incidents involving loss of containment. Kevin reminded the members that because of Buncefield and other incidents COMAH sites would be under public scrutiny and that containment issues would remain high on HSC’s and HSE’s agendas.
Anton Wilson gave an update on the rollout to the local planning authorities of PADHI, the HSE system for giving Land Use Planning advice near COMAH sites. By the end of July HSE would have organised about 15 seminars on the system to local authorities, and the initial responses had been quite varied. Anton revealed that some local authorities had been surprised to learn about pipelines and neighbouring COMAH sites affecting Land Use Planning in their areas, and several local authorities were using PADHI more than previously. The system would not be available to developers directly.
Kevin answered some questions on Land Use Planning around COMAH sites. Local Authorities in England and Wales were not legally obliged to take HSE’s advice on Land Use Planning, but if they went against it HSE were informed and had the option of calling in the decision for consideration by the Secretary of State. The issue of incremental development around COMAH sites was also being looked at.
David Painter explained that the joint Industry-CA Task Group on Buncefield had set up a number of working groups. One of these was tasked with identifying those fuel/oil storage sites where tank overfilling could cause a large vapour cloud to form, as had happened at Buncefield. David informed the members that this process would involve a voluntary notification scheme and would begin later in the summer. Martyn Lyons asked whether the criteria for selecting from all 108 fuel/oil sites had been agreed. David explained that the selection would likely be based on the volatility of flammable material, and the filling rate and size of storage tanks, but the criteria had not yet been agreed.
Richard Lomax gave an update on the introduction of the REACH regulatory scheme in Europe. DEFRA ministers were still considering bids for the UK CA and planned to make a formal announcement after the summer Parliamentary recess in September. The REACH Regulation was timetabled to replace the Existing Substances Regulation in the spring of 2007, and the NONS Regulations would start being phased out in 2008. A formal UK Helpdesk was in the process of being set up, and further information on REACH was available at DEFRA.
The HSC Annual Report and the Commission/Executive accounts 2005/06 had been published and could be downloaded at http://www.hse.gov.uk/aboutus/reports/0506/index.htm.
On the subject on joint HSE-industry attachments, Kevin revealed that Astra-Zeneca were keen to send one of their staff on a 6-month secondment to HSE to help develop a Sector Strategy for the pharmaceuticals industry. He also explained that the CIA had offered an opportunity for HSE staff to spend time on secondment with the CIA. Members were encouraged to consider other opportunities for closer working between regulator and regulated.
Kevin thanked Clive Tayler for bringing the FDA safety alert on O-rings for oxygen regulators to the attention of CDOIF. He asked for future information items to be sent to Paula.
The meeting closed at 2.00 pm. The next CDOIF meeting would be held in Rose Court, London on Wednesday 11th October 2006.
