About controlling the risks to workers and the public from major accident hazards
To meet the requirements of Article 3 and 5 of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989, dutyholders should have arrangements in place to effectively manage the risks to the safety of workers and the public resulting from major accident hazards. The relevant standards that apply in Jersey are as follows:
The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH)
This aims to prevent and limit the consequences of major accidents that involve hazardous substances which can cause serious damage or harm to people.
COMAH applies to any site that holds significant quantities of dangerous substances as outlined in Schedule 1 to the Regulations which lists the categories of dangerous substances and the quantities which set the 2 thresholds for application as:
The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 on legislation.gov.uk
The management of health and safety at work
Gives authoritative guidance on how to meet the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989.
Management of health and safety at work: approved code of practice
General operator duties
The general duties under Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law, as specified by COMAH, requires all operators is to take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences to people.
This is a high standard and applies to all establishments in scope.
Avoiding a hazard altogether should be the priority. However, COMAH requires measures for both prevention and mitigation. It recognises that all risks can’t be completely eliminated and high standards are required to ensure risks are acceptably low. Prevention should be based on the principle of reducing risk to a level as low as is reasonably practicable (ALARP).
All operators, including lower and upper tier, must produce a Major Accident Prevention Policy (MAPP) document. It must set out:
- the operator’s overall aims and principles of action
- the role and responsibility of management
- its commitment towards continuously improving the control of major accident hazards
Additional duties for Upper Tier (UT) establishments
UT sites should produce a Safety Report as required by COMAH Regulations which demonstrates that all necessary measures have been taken to minimise the risks posed by the site.
The Health and Safety Inspectorate (HSI) will submit the safety report to Health and Safety Executive (HSE) COMAH specialists for their formal review.
HSE cost recovers for the time spent on COMAH related activities. This means the review of the report is charged to the establishment. Interventions under the safety report will be undertaken by HSI. HSI will fund HSE support where needed.
Emergency planning
The Major Accident Prevention Policy (MAPP) should set out policy and procedures to be followed in the event of an incident or emergency affecting workers or the public.
Upper Tier (UT) operators must also prepare an internal emergency plan to deal with the on-site consequences of a major accident. The plans should be in writing and cover the full range of possible major accidents. This includes the response to reasonably foreseeable low-probability, high-consequence events, such as catastrophic vessel failure or multiple tank fires following an explosion.
COMAH also places a duty on the Emergency Planning Authority to prepare an external plan specifying the measures to be taken by others, such as the emergency services, in response to an emergency. This plan must be tested regularly. In Jersey the Emergency Planning authority is the Emergency Planning Officer.
Domino effect considerations
All sites that meet COMAH definitions, both upper or lower tier, should also consider the domino effects and ensure that they cooperate and share relevant information with neighbouring establishments and non-COMAH sites.
Resources
Control Of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 2015 (COMAH) on hse.gov.uk
Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) on hse.gov.uk
Resources on hse.gov.uk
Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989 on JerseyLaw
gov.je