Safety in the Plant
The EU’s latest report on implementation of the Seveso II Directive records a decline in the number of serious accidents. At the same time, however, concerns remain that the reporting system used is neither as coherent nor as effective as it should be.
Der letzte Bericht der Europäischen Union über die Implementierung der Seveso II-Richtlinie verzeichnet eine Abnahme in der Zahl schwerer Unfälle. Gleichzeitig bleibt die Besorgnis bestehen, dass das benutzte Berichtsystem nicht einheitlich und effektiv genug ist.
Le tout dernier rapport de l’UE sur la mise en œuvre de la directive Seveso II a permis d’aboutir à un déclin des accidents sérieux. Cependant, dans le même temps des doutes demeurent sur le système de rapports utilisé qui ne serait pas aussi cohérent ni efficace qu’il devrait l’être.
Seveso II Directive reporting system to be reviewed
O
n 10th July 1976 an industrial accident at a small chemical manufacturing plant in Seveso, near Milan in Italy resulted in a huge leak of a dioxin known as
TCDD. This in turn led to a raft of EU regulations concerning the handling, storage and use of dangerous substances. Officially known as Council Directive 96/82/
EC1 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, the so-called Seveso II Directive aims at the prevention of major- accident hazards involving dangerous substances and at the limitation of the consequences of such accidents for man and the environment. The Seveso II Directive applies to thousands
of industrial establishments where dangerous substances are present. Every three years, each of the 27 member states
has to provide a report relating to all of its upper- tier – higher risk – establishments. These reports are then drawn together by the EU Commission to highlight how the directive is being applied. The intention of this summary is to assess
the level of implementation and to identify any shortcomings. The Commission expects that where low figures are reported this will encourage the member states concerned to improve implementation. In December 2008, 4528 upper tier
establishments were reported, an increase over the previous three years of 14 per cent (up from 3949). If new members Romania and Bulgaria are not included, the increase is 10 per cent. The number of major accidents is a key
indicator to measure the performance of the directive and its aim to prevent accidents. Per year, around 20-35 major accidents occur in the EU. However, the Commission notes that delays in accident reporting mainly caused by the time taken to complete legal proceedings, the figures for the last few years may still rise. However considering the increase in the number of establishments, relatively fewer major accidents
happened per establishment. The frequency of accidents, which had for many years been higher than 3 per 1000 establishments per year, seems to be falling to under three on average for the latest reporting period (Table 1). In terms of inspections, all Seveso sites have
2000 - 2002 2003 - 2005 2006 - 2008
86 82 79
Table 1. Major accidents in the EU in the last three reporting years.
to be inspected or be subject to control measures appropriate to the type of establishment concerned. Unless there is programme of inspections based upon a systematic appraisal of major accident hazards of the particular establishment concerned, each establishment shall be subject to at least one on-site inspection every 12 months. The member states’ replies show that in 2008
66 per cent of the establishments were inspected. This figure is practically unchanged in comparison with 2005: 69 per cent, or 2002: 66 per cent. The figures provided do not allow clear
conclusions to be drawn as the frequency of inspections is linked to the programme of inspections. This aspect, notes the Commission, may warrant further examination in due course, particularly in those cases where the reported figures are low.
Conclusions and the way forward Commenting on its analysis, the Commission believes that the directive is working well and that implementation by the member states has substantially improved. The number of Seveso establishments increased in this reporting period by 10 per cent to 4528 sites whilst the number of major accidents decreased. “However there are deficiencies in some areas in some member states. Remedial action should be taken where appropriate further to improve implementation,” the report notes.
Industry operators would appear to comply to a
large extent with the requirements of the directive as demonstrated by the figures about the quantity of safety reports and internal emergency plans this. Concerning the obligation of authorities to draw
up external emergency plans, a steep rise can be noted in the last few years. By the end of 2008, the level of available external plans had reached over 90 per cent, a level that should have subsequently increased further following the infringement procedures launched against most member states in 2007/2008. “This clearly demonstrates that improved enforcement of such requirements is useful and helps to improve safety. This example also shows the usefulness of this reporting exercise, which provides for possible shortcomings in application to be identified as well as progress made in remedying these,” says the report. So far as other obligations of authorities are concerned, the Commission says that this reporting
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