Health and Safety Commission Business Plan 2005/06

Major Hazards Strategic Delivery Programme

23. The Major Hazards Strategic Delivery Programme focuses on HSE’s work regulating and assuring safe management of those industries where failure to manage risks to health and safety could have catastrophic effects. To meet the PSA, HSE must achieve by 2007 /08 (against a 2001/02 baseline):

• A 7.5% reduction in the number of events reported by licence holders, which HSE's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate judges as having the potential to challenge a nuclear safety system
• A 45% reduction in the number of major and significant hydrocarbon releases in the offshore oil and gas sector
• A 15% reduction in the number of relevant RIDDOR reportable dangerous occurences in the onshore sector.

24. HSE’s work on rail safety will also be included in this programme until it transfers to the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) in December 2005. The current set of targets does not cover other major hazard areas where HSE is active, such as biological hazards and mining. HSE is working with these industries to develop suitable indicators of risk control.

25. In order to achieve the planned reduction in reports by licence holders, we will continue to secure effective control of health, safety and radioactive waste management at nuclear sites. We will do this by:

• Working with British Energy to ensure that its restructuring and performance improvement programmes enhance safety
• Working with relevant nuclear site licensees ( the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority , British Nuclear Fuels and its successors) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to ensure that while the industry is being restructured to accelerate nuclear site clean-up and decommissioning, nuclear safety is maintained or enhanced
• Providing early interaction with and guidance to any significant changes on Ministry of Defence (MoD) sites and continuing to enhance partnership working with MoD’s internal regulators.

For further information go to http://www.hse.gov.uk/nuclear/index.htm

26. In order to achieve the reductions in major hydrocarbon releases in the offshore oil and gas sector, key workstreams in 2005-06 will include:

• Improving installation integrity in the offshore oil and gas industry via a joint HSE/Industry working group (The UK Offshore Operators Association will run conference in the summer)
• Targeted inspection of duty holders engaged in drilling and deck operations.

27. To reduce the number of relevant RIDDOR dangerous occurrences onshore, we will work with relevant industries including chemical manufacture/storage/ transportation, mining, explosives, diving at work, dangerous pathogens and genetically modified organisms. Key workstreams will include:

• Awareness raising among duty holders new to the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) following changes to COMAH Regulations – we anticipate approximately 50 new sites (e.g. chromium platers, more explosive sites)
• Introducing the Manufacturing and Storage of Explosives Regulations
• Safety case assessment work associated with sale of the national gas distribution network
• Delivering the agency agreements, covering biosafety/security arrangements, with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs , the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly Government.

For further information see http://www.hse.gov.uk/hid/