This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
FIRE SAFETY & DISASTER RECOVERY


Buncefield fire fighting Courtesy of Hertforshire Fire & Rescue Service


POLLUTION CONTAINMENT – IS YOUR PROTECTION WATERTIGHT?


David Cole, Water Pollution Manager at Hydro Consultancy, ensures you have taken adequate measures to protect your site from water pollution and flooding.


Flooding, pollution spills and fires are not disaster scenarios that are unlikely ever to occur, they happen to industrial and commercial premises all the time. The only acceptable kind of pollution risk is, therefore, one that a business can demonstrate it has taken adequate measures to protect against.


Providing evidence of how surface water is discharging to the environment should be on the agenda of any company that is keen to act sustainably. As well as being environmentally unacceptable, inadequate water pollution containment could be very costly.


Pollution containment is particularly critical for sites operating under the Control of Major Accidents and Hazards (COMAH) 2015 or Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations (EPR) 2010. It should also be integral to any compliant Environmental Management System (EMS) – or for those companies working to IS0 14001.


28 | TOMORROW’S FM


EVERYDAY RISK Many facilities managers may


unwittingly be taking the risk of causing environmental water pollution every day. The risk of causing environmental pollution through fire-fighting water is often unforeseen, for example, as is failure to contain spills of pollutants including those carried in surface water flooding on site.


“IN THE WORST


CASES, A POLLUTION CONVICTION CAN EVEN INCLUDE THE


OPTION OF CUSTODIAL SENTENCES FOR


COMPANY DIRECTORS.”


An unexpected pollution incident is likely to land an unprepared operator with significant fines and a substantial bill for


environmental remediation. Insurance cover may not be sufficient to pay for the clean-up costs, in all but the most exceptional circumstances. In the worst cases, a pollution conviction can even include the option of custodial sentences for company directors.


Notwithstanding a company’s regulatory obligations and noting that in the vast majority of instances the “polluter pays”, the expectations of Corporate Social Responsibility alone (especially for larger companies) make it good practice to demonstrate exemplary environmental compliance.


For most sites the conventional practice for managing tertiary pollution containment is to block underground drainage with a containment valve. Some sites also require defences to be built that capture flood water in above- or below-ground storage systems such as bunded areas or underground tanks, from where the polluted


twitter.com/TomorrowsFM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74