Be prepared – COMAH Regulations 2015

Be prepared – COMAH Regulations 2015
New Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations will come into force in Great Britain on 1 June 2015. The main COMAH duties will stay the same as now but there are some important changes particularly on how dangerous substances are classified and information that has to be made available to the public. For the first time, lower tier operators will have to provide public information about their site and its hazards. Both top tier (now referred to as upper tier) and lower tier operators will need to provide public information electronically and keep it up to date.
To help you prepare:
• Be involved in the consultation – get a good indication of how you may be affected by looking at the draft new COMAH Regulations 2015. Have your say – the consultation closes on 27 June.
• Check whether your COMAH status is likely to change. Also check whether you will need to convert your inventory from CHIP classification to CLP. Guidance on classification is available online.
• Be aware that all COMAH operators are likely to have to send a new notification to the Competent Authority (CA) by 1 June 2016.
• Consider what new information may need to be included in major accident prevention policies and off-site emergency plans (draft Regulations 7 and 12)
• Start putting plans in place for your summary of public information.
• Review draft Regulation 9 setting out the requirements and timescales for submission of Safety Reports and consider what new information may be required.
• Note that upper tier operators will still have to prepare public information zone (PIZ) information as now (draft Regulation 17).