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Recent Safety and Environmental Legislation
RECENT SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION DEVELOPMENTS IN SAFETY LEGISLATIONÐ UK Ignore the Cost of Accidents and Pro® ts will Suffer Ð Warns HSE
disappointing and give cause for concern. For example, 302 workers, that is employees and the self-employed combined, were killed in workplace accidents compared to 258 last year. `The rate of fatalities per 100,000 workers is estimated to rise from 1.0 to 1.2 mainly because more self-employed people were killed, though the rate for employees should remain the same. There has been a noticeable rise in fatalities of employees in the manufacturing industry, where provisional ® gures suggest that deaths rose to 57 from 42 last year. `WeÐ and employers and workers in industryÐ have to take these increases seriously. We don’ t know whether this is a rather tragic `blip’ in this country’s previously improving safety record, or the start of an upward drift. It is worth remembering that last year’ s ® gure for fatalities was the lowest on record, the ® gures are still lower than in any year prior to 1993/94, and fatalities among self-employed workers have historically been highly volatile. `Nor can we yet make well-informed guesses about reasons for the increases. We do know a lot of people classi® ed as self-employed are often working in the front line in some hazardous occupations, and may not have as much training, experience and managerial support as they should have. But we need to do more work on what has been happening. `Meanwhile, we have set a tough target this year for getting inspectors out and about to see ® rms and be seen. We are reviewing what has been happening on issuing enforcement notices. And the Health and Safety Commission and ourselves are working closely with the Government to try to get the penalties available applied properly by the Courts where companies or individuals ¯ out health and safety law. But the main job is down to people in industryÐ they have the responsibility for managing safety and operating safely, and they need to do better.’ Copies of Safety Statistics Bulletin 1996/97, MISC 083, are available free of charge from HSE Books.
`Dealing with the causes of accidental losses is not an unnecessary overheadÐ failure to do so will eat directly into the overall pro® tability of a company.’ This quote, by Frank Davies, Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), is taken from the foreword of the newly republished guidance The Cost of Accidents. The book aims to emphasize the business case for good health and safety management and show that by taking cost-effective measures, accidental losses can be reduced. Organizations which perform well and have high standards of health and safety are often the most successful, irrespective of size or industry. The common thread running through these organizations is the application of sound and effective management to health and safety, together with the integration of health and safety into overall management agenda. Accidents quoted in the publication include the Piper Alpha explosion in 1988, which not only cost 167 lives but £2 billionÐ including £746 million in insurance payouts. The BP oil re® nery ® re in 1987 cost one life but £100 million, half of which was due to the interruption of normal business. The amount of individual compensation claims can also be vast; the TUC estimate that in 1995 it secured awards totalling £304 million against workplace injuries and ill health for its members. The publication also explains how a method has been developed to identify the full costs of accidents to show organizations how seriously the management of health and safety should be taken. Data was collected from ® ve differing organizations over a three-month periodÐ a construction site, a creamery, an associated transport company, a North Sea oil platform and a hospital. The sites chosen employed between 80 and 700 people and were considered as having average or better than average health and safety performance. Total losses ranged from £99,000 to £245,000 for the three months. Copies of The Cost of Accidents, ISBN 0 7176 1343 7, price £10.95, are available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 6FS (Tel: 01787 881165, Fax: 01787 313995) and booksellers.
HSE Publishes Survey on Industry’s Perception and Use of Occupational Exposure Limits The HSE has published an in-depth study on industry’ s perception and use of occupational exposure limits (OELs). OELs are standards for the amounts of chemicals in the air breathed in by workers. OELs have legal status under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (COSHH), where they de® ne adequate control of exposure for worker protection. The survey was designed to probe industry’ s real understanding of OELs and COSHH. It was not intended to explore the appropriateness or ef® cacy of risk assessments or control measures. The survey, carried out by Research International (UK) Ltd, involved interviews with 1000 randomly selected businesses using chemicals and 150 trade union health and
Headline Workplace Health and Safety Statistics 1996/97 On 28 July 1997 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published provisional headline statistics for workplace accidents and injuries for the year from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997, Jenny Bacon, HSE’ s Director General said: `The year’ s ® gures show a complex pictureÐ some increases in accident levels and some improvements. `The ® gures are our best estimates so far: we are issuing these key results about three months earlier than in the past. But if they are con® rmed some of the ® gures are Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
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safety representatives. The majority of business respondents were therefore small ® rms, closely re¯ ecting the make-up of UK industry by size of establishment. The survey found that:
· The majority of ® rms had carried out some assessment of
risk and had taken steps to control their employees’ exposure; · Firms relied heavily on information from suppliers in deciding measures to control exposure; and · Understanding of OELs was very variable, and they played little direct part in workplace risk management, particularly in small ® rms. The survey has been discussed with the Health and Safety Commission’ s Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances (ACTS), who agreed the need to improve industry’ s understanding of OELs and help small ® rms adequately control workplace exposure to chemicals. HSE has identi® ed a number of steps that will contribute to its ongoing efforts to help ® rms comply with COSHH, in turn reducing ill health arising from workplace exposure to chemicals. In particular:
· Clear advice on OELs targeted at small ® rms will be
included in HSE’ s revision of the COSHH guidance package; · HSE will improve communication with small ® rms. Suppliers and intermediaries are important channels and HSE are looking at how safety data sheets can be made more effective. Copies of Contract Research Report No. 144, Industry’s Perception and Use of Occupational Exposure Limits, ISBN 0 7176 1407 7, are available from HSE Books. Management Systems Failures Caused Major Explosion at Texaco Re® nery The HSE’ s report into the explosion and ® res at the Texaco re® nery site, Milford Haven, was published on 10 September 1997. The investigation into the incident on 24 July 1994 was one of the biggest ever undertaken by HSE. The huge explosion was heard up to 30 miles away, resulted in injuries to 26 people and caused massive damage to the site. The incident happened on the Pembroke Cracking Company (PCC) plant at the Texaco re® nery site. PCC is a joint partnership between Texaco Ltd and Gulf Oil (GB) Ltd. The report describes how the events leading up to the explosion began before 9.00 am on Sunday 24 July 1994, when a severe electrical storm caused plant disturbances. The crude distillation unit, that provided feed to the PCC units, was shut down as a result of a ® re which had been started by a lightning strike. During the course of the morning, all PCC units except the Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) were shut down. HSE’ s investigation found that the direct cause of the explosion, some ® ve hours later, was a combination of failures in management, equipment and control systems during the plant upset. These led to the release of about 20 tonnes of ¯ ammable hydrocarbons from the outlet pipe of the ¯ are knock-out drum of the FCCU. The released hydrocarbons formed a drifting cloud of vapour and droplets
that found a source of ignition about 110 metres from the ¯ are drum and exploded. This caused a major hydrocarbon ® re at the ¯ are drum outlet itself and a number of secondary ® res. The report contains 14 recommendations arising from the investigation. Copies of The Explosion and Fires at the Texaco Re® nery, Milford Haven, 24 July 1994, ISBN 0 7176 1143 1, are available from HSE Books, price £12.50. HSE Publishes Information on Lessons in Emergency Planning Following the reports the HSE has recently published on major accidents, a new information sheet has been produced that details the lessons learnt from accidents such as the Allied Colloids ® re in 1992, Hickson and Welsh in 1992 and Associated Octel in 1994. The above sites are subject to the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984 (CIMAH). These regulations require emergency plans to be kept up to date and regularly tested. The Hickson and Welsh incident demonstrated the dif® culties in establishing a complete `roll call’ during a major incident. It is vital that even the simple aspects of any emergency plan are looked at in detail. The information sheet looks at the various areas of emergency planning, which include warning the public, giving the emergency services the information they need, making sure the public around the site are given prior knowledge of the foreseeable types of accident and the steps to take should one occur. The emergency plans should be capable of dealing with the largest incident that can be reasonably foreseen, but detailed planning should concentrate on those events which are most probable. The information sheet then goes on to list the main lessons learnt from three major incidents that HSE has recently investigated. Copies of Chemical Information Sheet No 1, Recent Major Accidents: Lessons on Emergency Planning, are available free from HSE Books. Selected from HSE/HSC information by David Phillips DEVELOPMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATIONÐ UK Drinking Water Inspectorate’s Seventh Annual Report The high quality of drinking water in England and Wales was con® rmed again in the Drinking Water Inspectorate’ s seventh Annual Report, published in July 1997. Announcing publication of the Report, the Chief Inspector, Michael Rouse said: `I am pleased to present the Report giving the account of the Inspectorate’ s activities in 1996. Drinking water in England and Wales is shown to be of a high quality and improving. Of the 3 million tests carried out in 1996, 99.7% complied with the national standards which are set at, or in some cases are more stringent than, the EC standards. The number of tests not complying with the standards in 1996 was down to one ® fth of the ® gure for 1992 showing the effectiveness of the enforcement system. `There is no evidence that in any instance where the standards were not met, during routine compliance testing, Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
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that the health of consumers was endangered. Only some of the standards are health related, and these are generally set with wide safety margins. `The Inspectorate, with the assistance of consultants, once again carried out inspections of all the water companies to make sure that they complied with the Regulations. The Report makes public the outcome. `On the downside, there has been an increase in the number of incidents in which consumers received highly discoloured water, largely from iron deposits in the water mains. Although high iron levels are not a health risk, the water is unpalatable and consumers should receive a better service. I am asking the water companies involved to consider urgently how they might improve the operation of their distribution systems. Drinking Water 1996Ð A Report by the Chief Inspector, Drinking Water Inspectorate, ISBN 0 11 753402 1, is available from HMSO, price £32.
commitment for a review in 1999. I want to move more quickly than this and will be looking hard at the prospects for delivering cleaner air more quickly to our urban areas. The review will start immediately, with proposals for amendments to the strategy by next year. It will be thorough and will look not only at the scienti® c and economic basis of the strategy, but also at the range of policy options open to us.’ The Strategy will be backed by a package of measures including the recently agreed EC Auto-Oil agreement. Mr Meacher said: `In the European Council last month, I and my fellow European Ministers reached agreement on more stringent standards for motor vehicle emissions, and for the fuels which will power them. The new standards will mean signi® cant improvements in air quality as we enter the next century.’
Overhaul of Industrial Pollution Control
On 30 July 1997 Planning Minister Richard Caborn announced the start of a consultation exercise on the implementation of the revised EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. The Directive contains important new provisions which will assist local authorities, developers and the public in assessing any signi® cant environmental impact of developments in their areas. `The amended Environmental Impact Assessment Directive must be implemented by 14 March 1999. The new Directive clari® es and ampli® es the existing provisions for environmental assessment. It provides a useful tool for the proper assessment of any signi® cant environmental effects of development. It also gives the public greater access to environmental information about such signi® cant projects, enhancing local democracy and ensuring that the decision-making process is open and understood. Copies of the consultation paper were sent to other Government Departments and to a wide range of business, government and environmental organizations. The closing date for responses to the Government’ s proposals was 1 October 1997.
The EC Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive will extend integrated controlÐ covering releases to air, water and landÐ to 7000 installations, compared to the 2000 or so processes regulated under Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) at present, and will take a far wider range of environmental factors into account. The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive will require, from 1999, that new industrial installations such as power stations, cement kilns, incinerators, chemical works and intensive pig and poultry farms are issued with a permit after consideration of their pollution potential in an integrated way and that the permit is based on best available techniques. The Directive’ s provisions apply to existing plant from 2007. Launching a Government consultation paper on the implementation of the Directive at a seminar organized by the National Society of Clean Air and Environmental Protection and the CBI, Environment Minister Michael Meacher said, `The IPPC Directive is an opportunity for us to strengthen our system of industrial pollution control. We intend to seize this opportunity with enthusiasm. `The consultation paper published today sets out our ® rst thoughts on the main issues raisedÐ and some challenging ideas for changes to Integrated Pollution Control which go beyond what the Directive requires.’ The closing date for responses to the consultation paper was 31 October 1997. National Air Quality Strategy Gets the Go-ahead The Government is to press ahead with the National Air Quality Strategy but has promised a review at the earliest opportunity. Addressing a major conference on air quality management in European cities in July 1997, Environment Minister Michael Meacher promised the strategy would be implemented in full, as a matter of urgency, but the Government would look hard at ways in which it could be improved while ensuring that there will be no undue burden on business. `Regulations will be set in place to implement the Strategy by the end of the year. The strategy included a Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
Consultation on Implementation of Revised European Union Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Three Packaging Schemes Get Government Approval On 1 August 1997 Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced Government approval of the ® rst three compliance schemes to help businesses meet their obligations under the Packaging Waste Regulations. Valpak, Biffpack and DIFPAK will help double the UK’ s packaging recycling levels by 2001. Welcoming the initiative taken by business in creating these schemes, John Prescott said: `The success of business-led compliance schemes will be fundamental to the UK achieving the targets for recovery and recycling set out in the Packaging Directive. Schemes will be able to ensure that businesses work together to achieve the targets, focusing efforts and resources where they are most needed, and minimizing the costs to business. They will also have a vital role in boosting the part played in recycling by local authorities. I look forward to seeing all these schemes operating successfully once they become registered with the Environment Agency.’
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The Packaging Waste Regulations mean that business will make a substantial contribution to achieving a more sustainable waste policy, bringing convenient recycling facilities to 8 out of 10 households by 2000. When in full operation, these schemes may represent around half of all obligated businesses. Valpak is open to all companies with obligations under the Regulations and will deal with all types of packaging material covered by them. Valpak is currently processing in excess of 1500 applications from companies and this will enable the scheme to play a signi® cant role in raising UK recycling and recovery levels working in partnership with Local Authorities, reprocessors and waste managers. Valpak is supported by companies such as Booker, British Steel, Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages, J Sainsbury, Kelloggs, Lawson Marden, Linpac Group, Proctor & Gamble, Smiths Industries, Shell UK and Tesco. Biffpack, like Valpak, will be cross-sectoral and crossmaterial, and open to all obligated companies. It is run by Biffa Waste Services Limited. DIFPAK is a non-pro® t-making scheme set up by the Dairy Industry Federation and is primarily aimed at the food industry. It will deal with all types of packaging material. DIFPAK will provide help to prospective members on understanding the Regulations and calculating their obligations. Selected by Rolf Clayton GERMANY The German Radiation Protection Commission (SSK) has published Principles on Radio-Iodine Therapy (Bundesanzeiger No. 68, pp 4769±4770, 4 April 1997). Whereas many European countries as well as the USA, Canada and Australia apply radioactive iodine to certain activities on an outpatient basis, in Germany hospitalization for a minimum of 48 hours is required. The total I-131 activity of the patient must be lower than 250 MBq so the therapy can be optimized and the radiation burden is minimized. The discharge of radioactive I-131 from hospitals in waste water is limited to an annual average value of 7 Bq/1 and discharge to the atmosphere should not exceed 1 Bq/m3 . Higher activities or activity concentrations, respectively, can be permitted by the competent authority if the limits set by § 45 of the Radiation Protection Ordinance are not exceeded (e.g., 0.3 mSv/a effective dose, 0.9 mSv/a thyroid gland). The Recommendations of the Radiation Protection Commission for the years 1992 and 1993 have been published in German and English (Gustav Fischer Verlag, ISSN 0179 2075; ISBN 3 437 25406 5), containing recommendations on Assessment of the Utilization of Copper Slag from the Mansfeld Area; Radiation Protection Principles for the Safe Recycling and Reuse of Low Level Radioactive Non-iron Metal from Nuclear Power Plants; Radiation Protection Criteria for the Utilization of Water as Drinking Water from Sources likely to have been in¯ uenced by Uranium Mining; Leukaemia in Children in the Samtgemeinde Elbmarsch; The State of Radiation
Research in the Federal Republic of Germany; Practical Guidelines for Protection against Skin Cancer from UV-Rays; Requirements for Personal Dosimeters; Recommendation on b -Radiation Dosimetry, Conversion Electron Radiation and Low-energy Photon Radiation in Nuclear Power Plants; and Requirements on Contamination Monitoring on Leaving a Controlled Area. A new Ordinance on the Recycling of Old Cars (Bundesgesetzblatt BGB1 I, pp 1666±1678, 10 July 1997) requires useless cars to be delivered to an authorized recycling company. The ordinance contains requirements on acceptance, recycling companies and shredders. The ordinance came into force on 5 July 1997. The 4th Ordinance to Supplement The Radiation Protection Ordinance (Bundesgesetzblatt BGB1 I, pp 2113±2114, 25 August 1997) adds the regulation to § 38 that the public must be informed about safety measures and correct behaviour in radiological emergency situations every ® ve years. The information must complement that of other authorities responsible for the protection of the public in emergency situations. The Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety has published a Recommendation of the Commission on Radiological Protection on `Interventional Radiology’ (Bundesanzeiger No. 138a, 29 July 1997, 15 pages). Interventional radiology is concerned with medical operations to correct pathological changes in patients. The operation is carried out by percutaneous access without opening of the body cavity, mostly under local anaesthesia. Interventional radiology has a lower invasivity and therefore a lower risk of morbidity and mortality compared with conventional operations. However, the radiological burden to patients and personnel is higher. X-rays are used to control the instruments of intervention(e.g. guide wires and balloon catheters). The German Commission on Radiological Protection has therefore published special recommendations on the limitation of radiation exposure, radiation protection and on documentation. A new publication on Minimal Requirements for Waste Water (Bundesanzeiger No. 150a, 14 August 1997, 46 pages) contains an introduction to the Waste Management Law (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz, published in Bundesgesetzblatt BGB1 I, pp 1695±1711, 18 November 1996), the Waste Water Charges Law (Abwasserabgabengesetz, published in BGB1 I, pp 3370±3376, 18 November 1994 and BGB1 I, pp 566±583, 25 March 1997, the Ordinance on Requirements of Waste Water for the Discharge into Waters, and the new appendices No. 1 on Domestic and Community Waste Water (depending on the amount of waste water 75±150 mg/l COD, 15±40 mg/l BOD, 10 mg/l NH4 -N, 1±2 mg/l P); No. 40 on Metal Treatment (depending on the type of treatment there are different limits for metal ions, COD and NH4 -N); No. 42 on Electrolysis and No. 48 on the Use of Certain Toxic Substances (in accordance with the Guidelines of the European Community 76/464/EWG, 83/ 513/EWG, 84/156/EWG, 84/491/EWG, 86/280/EWG, 87/ 217/EWG and 88/347/EWG). Manfred Laser
Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
disappointing and give cause for concern. For example, 302 workers, that is employees and the self-employed combined, were killed in workplace accidents compared to 258 last year. `The rate of fatalities per 100,000 workers is estimated to rise from 1.0 to 1.2 mainly because more self-employed people were killed, though the rate for employees should remain the same. There has been a noticeable rise in fatalities of employees in the manufacturing industry, where provisional ® gures suggest that deaths rose to 57 from 42 last year. `WeÐ and employers and workers in industryÐ have to take these increases seriously. We don’ t know whether this is a rather tragic `blip’ in this country’s previously improving safety record, or the start of an upward drift. It is worth remembering that last year’ s ® gure for fatalities was the lowest on record, the ® gures are still lower than in any year prior to 1993/94, and fatalities among self-employed workers have historically been highly volatile. `Nor can we yet make well-informed guesses about reasons for the increases. We do know a lot of people classi® ed as self-employed are often working in the front line in some hazardous occupations, and may not have as much training, experience and managerial support as they should have. But we need to do more work on what has been happening. `Meanwhile, we have set a tough target this year for getting inspectors out and about to see ® rms and be seen. We are reviewing what has been happening on issuing enforcement notices. And the Health and Safety Commission and ourselves are working closely with the Government to try to get the penalties available applied properly by the Courts where companies or individuals ¯ out health and safety law. But the main job is down to people in industryÐ they have the responsibility for managing safety and operating safely, and they need to do better.’ Copies of Safety Statistics Bulletin 1996/97, MISC 083, are available free of charge from HSE Books.
`Dealing with the causes of accidental losses is not an unnecessary overheadÐ failure to do so will eat directly into the overall pro® tability of a company.’ This quote, by Frank Davies, Chairman of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), is taken from the foreword of the newly republished guidance The Cost of Accidents. The book aims to emphasize the business case for good health and safety management and show that by taking cost-effective measures, accidental losses can be reduced. Organizations which perform well and have high standards of health and safety are often the most successful, irrespective of size or industry. The common thread running through these organizations is the application of sound and effective management to health and safety, together with the integration of health and safety into overall management agenda. Accidents quoted in the publication include the Piper Alpha explosion in 1988, which not only cost 167 lives but £2 billionÐ including £746 million in insurance payouts. The BP oil re® nery ® re in 1987 cost one life but £100 million, half of which was due to the interruption of normal business. The amount of individual compensation claims can also be vast; the TUC estimate that in 1995 it secured awards totalling £304 million against workplace injuries and ill health for its members. The publication also explains how a method has been developed to identify the full costs of accidents to show organizations how seriously the management of health and safety should be taken. Data was collected from ® ve differing organizations over a three-month periodÐ a construction site, a creamery, an associated transport company, a North Sea oil platform and a hospital. The sites chosen employed between 80 and 700 people and were considered as having average or better than average health and safety performance. Total losses ranged from £99,000 to £245,000 for the three months. Copies of The Cost of Accidents, ISBN 0 7176 1343 7, price £10.95, are available from HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 6FS (Tel: 01787 881165, Fax: 01787 313995) and booksellers.
HSE Publishes Survey on Industry’s Perception and Use of Occupational Exposure Limits The HSE has published an in-depth study on industry’ s perception and use of occupational exposure limits (OELs). OELs are standards for the amounts of chemicals in the air breathed in by workers. OELs have legal status under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (COSHH), where they de® ne adequate control of exposure for worker protection. The survey was designed to probe industry’ s real understanding of OELs and COSHH. It was not intended to explore the appropriateness or ef® cacy of risk assessments or control measures. The survey, carried out by Research International (UK) Ltd, involved interviews with 1000 randomly selected businesses using chemicals and 150 trade union health and
Headline Workplace Health and Safety Statistics 1996/97 On 28 July 1997 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published provisional headline statistics for workplace accidents and injuries for the year from 1 April 1996 to 31 March 1997, Jenny Bacon, HSE’ s Director General said: `The year’ s ® gures show a complex pictureÐ some increases in accident levels and some improvements. `The ® gures are our best estimates so far: we are issuing these key results about three months earlier than in the past. But if they are con® rmed some of the ® gures are Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
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safety representatives. The majority of business respondents were therefore small ® rms, closely re¯ ecting the make-up of UK industry by size of establishment. The survey found that:
· The majority of ® rms had carried out some assessment of
risk and had taken steps to control their employees’ exposure; · Firms relied heavily on information from suppliers in deciding measures to control exposure; and · Understanding of OELs was very variable, and they played little direct part in workplace risk management, particularly in small ® rms. The survey has been discussed with the Health and Safety Commission’ s Advisory Committee on Toxic Substances (ACTS), who agreed the need to improve industry’ s understanding of OELs and help small ® rms adequately control workplace exposure to chemicals. HSE has identi® ed a number of steps that will contribute to its ongoing efforts to help ® rms comply with COSHH, in turn reducing ill health arising from workplace exposure to chemicals. In particular:
· Clear advice on OELs targeted at small ® rms will be
included in HSE’ s revision of the COSHH guidance package; · HSE will improve communication with small ® rms. Suppliers and intermediaries are important channels and HSE are looking at how safety data sheets can be made more effective. Copies of Contract Research Report No. 144, Industry’s Perception and Use of Occupational Exposure Limits, ISBN 0 7176 1407 7, are available from HSE Books. Management Systems Failures Caused Major Explosion at Texaco Re® nery The HSE’ s report into the explosion and ® res at the Texaco re® nery site, Milford Haven, was published on 10 September 1997. The investigation into the incident on 24 July 1994 was one of the biggest ever undertaken by HSE. The huge explosion was heard up to 30 miles away, resulted in injuries to 26 people and caused massive damage to the site. The incident happened on the Pembroke Cracking Company (PCC) plant at the Texaco re® nery site. PCC is a joint partnership between Texaco Ltd and Gulf Oil (GB) Ltd. The report describes how the events leading up to the explosion began before 9.00 am on Sunday 24 July 1994, when a severe electrical storm caused plant disturbances. The crude distillation unit, that provided feed to the PCC units, was shut down as a result of a ® re which had been started by a lightning strike. During the course of the morning, all PCC units except the Fluidized Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU) were shut down. HSE’ s investigation found that the direct cause of the explosion, some ® ve hours later, was a combination of failures in management, equipment and control systems during the plant upset. These led to the release of about 20 tonnes of ¯ ammable hydrocarbons from the outlet pipe of the ¯ are knock-out drum of the FCCU. The released hydrocarbons formed a drifting cloud of vapour and droplets
that found a source of ignition about 110 metres from the ¯ are drum and exploded. This caused a major hydrocarbon ® re at the ¯ are drum outlet itself and a number of secondary ® res. The report contains 14 recommendations arising from the investigation. Copies of The Explosion and Fires at the Texaco Re® nery, Milford Haven, 24 July 1994, ISBN 0 7176 1143 1, are available from HSE Books, price £12.50. HSE Publishes Information on Lessons in Emergency Planning Following the reports the HSE has recently published on major accidents, a new information sheet has been produced that details the lessons learnt from accidents such as the Allied Colloids ® re in 1992, Hickson and Welsh in 1992 and Associated Octel in 1994. The above sites are subject to the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1984 (CIMAH). These regulations require emergency plans to be kept up to date and regularly tested. The Hickson and Welsh incident demonstrated the dif® culties in establishing a complete `roll call’ during a major incident. It is vital that even the simple aspects of any emergency plan are looked at in detail. The information sheet looks at the various areas of emergency planning, which include warning the public, giving the emergency services the information they need, making sure the public around the site are given prior knowledge of the foreseeable types of accident and the steps to take should one occur. The emergency plans should be capable of dealing with the largest incident that can be reasonably foreseen, but detailed planning should concentrate on those events which are most probable. The information sheet then goes on to list the main lessons learnt from three major incidents that HSE has recently investigated. Copies of Chemical Information Sheet No 1, Recent Major Accidents: Lessons on Emergency Planning, are available free from HSE Books. Selected from HSE/HSC information by David Phillips DEVELOPMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATIONÐ UK Drinking Water Inspectorate’s Seventh Annual Report The high quality of drinking water in England and Wales was con® rmed again in the Drinking Water Inspectorate’ s seventh Annual Report, published in July 1997. Announcing publication of the Report, the Chief Inspector, Michael Rouse said: `I am pleased to present the Report giving the account of the Inspectorate’ s activities in 1996. Drinking water in England and Wales is shown to be of a high quality and improving. Of the 3 million tests carried out in 1996, 99.7% complied with the national standards which are set at, or in some cases are more stringent than, the EC standards. The number of tests not complying with the standards in 1996 was down to one ® fth of the ® gure for 1992 showing the effectiveness of the enforcement system. `There is no evidence that in any instance where the standards were not met, during routine compliance testing, Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
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that the health of consumers was endangered. Only some of the standards are health related, and these are generally set with wide safety margins. `The Inspectorate, with the assistance of consultants, once again carried out inspections of all the water companies to make sure that they complied with the Regulations. The Report makes public the outcome. `On the downside, there has been an increase in the number of incidents in which consumers received highly discoloured water, largely from iron deposits in the water mains. Although high iron levels are not a health risk, the water is unpalatable and consumers should receive a better service. I am asking the water companies involved to consider urgently how they might improve the operation of their distribution systems. Drinking Water 1996Ð A Report by the Chief Inspector, Drinking Water Inspectorate, ISBN 0 11 753402 1, is available from HMSO, price £32.
commitment for a review in 1999. I want to move more quickly than this and will be looking hard at the prospects for delivering cleaner air more quickly to our urban areas. The review will start immediately, with proposals for amendments to the strategy by next year. It will be thorough and will look not only at the scienti® c and economic basis of the strategy, but also at the range of policy options open to us.’ The Strategy will be backed by a package of measures including the recently agreed EC Auto-Oil agreement. Mr Meacher said: `In the European Council last month, I and my fellow European Ministers reached agreement on more stringent standards for motor vehicle emissions, and for the fuels which will power them. The new standards will mean signi® cant improvements in air quality as we enter the next century.’
Overhaul of Industrial Pollution Control
On 30 July 1997 Planning Minister Richard Caborn announced the start of a consultation exercise on the implementation of the revised EU Environmental Impact Assessment Directive. The Directive contains important new provisions which will assist local authorities, developers and the public in assessing any signi® cant environmental impact of developments in their areas. `The amended Environmental Impact Assessment Directive must be implemented by 14 March 1999. The new Directive clari® es and ampli® es the existing provisions for environmental assessment. It provides a useful tool for the proper assessment of any signi® cant environmental effects of development. It also gives the public greater access to environmental information about such signi® cant projects, enhancing local democracy and ensuring that the decision-making process is open and understood. Copies of the consultation paper were sent to other Government Departments and to a wide range of business, government and environmental organizations. The closing date for responses to the Government’ s proposals was 1 October 1997.
The EC Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive will extend integrated controlÐ covering releases to air, water and landÐ to 7000 installations, compared to the 2000 or so processes regulated under Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) at present, and will take a far wider range of environmental factors into account. The Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive will require, from 1999, that new industrial installations such as power stations, cement kilns, incinerators, chemical works and intensive pig and poultry farms are issued with a permit after consideration of their pollution potential in an integrated way and that the permit is based on best available techniques. The Directive’ s provisions apply to existing plant from 2007. Launching a Government consultation paper on the implementation of the Directive at a seminar organized by the National Society of Clean Air and Environmental Protection and the CBI, Environment Minister Michael Meacher said, `The IPPC Directive is an opportunity for us to strengthen our system of industrial pollution control. We intend to seize this opportunity with enthusiasm. `The consultation paper published today sets out our ® rst thoughts on the main issues raisedÐ and some challenging ideas for changes to Integrated Pollution Control which go beyond what the Directive requires.’ The closing date for responses to the consultation paper was 31 October 1997. National Air Quality Strategy Gets the Go-ahead The Government is to press ahead with the National Air Quality Strategy but has promised a review at the earliest opportunity. Addressing a major conference on air quality management in European cities in July 1997, Environment Minister Michael Meacher promised the strategy would be implemented in full, as a matter of urgency, but the Government would look hard at ways in which it could be improved while ensuring that there will be no undue burden on business. `Regulations will be set in place to implement the Strategy by the end of the year. The strategy included a Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997
Consultation on Implementation of Revised European Union Environmental Impact Assessment Directive
Three Packaging Schemes Get Government Approval On 1 August 1997 Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced Government approval of the ® rst three compliance schemes to help businesses meet their obligations under the Packaging Waste Regulations. Valpak, Biffpack and DIFPAK will help double the UK’ s packaging recycling levels by 2001. Welcoming the initiative taken by business in creating these schemes, John Prescott said: `The success of business-led compliance schemes will be fundamental to the UK achieving the targets for recovery and recycling set out in the Packaging Directive. Schemes will be able to ensure that businesses work together to achieve the targets, focusing efforts and resources where they are most needed, and minimizing the costs to business. They will also have a vital role in boosting the part played in recycling by local authorities. I look forward to seeing all these schemes operating successfully once they become registered with the Environment Agency.’
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RECENT SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION
The Packaging Waste Regulations mean that business will make a substantial contribution to achieving a more sustainable waste policy, bringing convenient recycling facilities to 8 out of 10 households by 2000. When in full operation, these schemes may represent around half of all obligated businesses. Valpak is open to all companies with obligations under the Regulations and will deal with all types of packaging material covered by them. Valpak is currently processing in excess of 1500 applications from companies and this will enable the scheme to play a signi® cant role in raising UK recycling and recovery levels working in partnership with Local Authorities, reprocessors and waste managers. Valpak is supported by companies such as Booker, British Steel, Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages, J Sainsbury, Kelloggs, Lawson Marden, Linpac Group, Proctor & Gamble, Smiths Industries, Shell UK and Tesco. Biffpack, like Valpak, will be cross-sectoral and crossmaterial, and open to all obligated companies. It is run by Biffa Waste Services Limited. DIFPAK is a non-pro® t-making scheme set up by the Dairy Industry Federation and is primarily aimed at the food industry. It will deal with all types of packaging material. DIFPAK will provide help to prospective members on understanding the Regulations and calculating their obligations. Selected by Rolf Clayton GERMANY The German Radiation Protection Commission (SSK) has published Principles on Radio-Iodine Therapy (Bundesanzeiger No. 68, pp 4769±4770, 4 April 1997). Whereas many European countries as well as the USA, Canada and Australia apply radioactive iodine to certain activities on an outpatient basis, in Germany hospitalization for a minimum of 48 hours is required. The total I-131 activity of the patient must be lower than 250 MBq so the therapy can be optimized and the radiation burden is minimized. The discharge of radioactive I-131 from hospitals in waste water is limited to an annual average value of 7 Bq/1 and discharge to the atmosphere should not exceed 1 Bq/m3 . Higher activities or activity concentrations, respectively, can be permitted by the competent authority if the limits set by § 45 of the Radiation Protection Ordinance are not exceeded (e.g., 0.3 mSv/a effective dose, 0.9 mSv/a thyroid gland). The Recommendations of the Radiation Protection Commission for the years 1992 and 1993 have been published in German and English (Gustav Fischer Verlag, ISSN 0179 2075; ISBN 3 437 25406 5), containing recommendations on Assessment of the Utilization of Copper Slag from the Mansfeld Area; Radiation Protection Principles for the Safe Recycling and Reuse of Low Level Radioactive Non-iron Metal from Nuclear Power Plants; Radiation Protection Criteria for the Utilization of Water as Drinking Water from Sources likely to have been in¯ uenced by Uranium Mining; Leukaemia in Children in the Samtgemeinde Elbmarsch; The State of Radiation
Research in the Federal Republic of Germany; Practical Guidelines for Protection against Skin Cancer from UV-Rays; Requirements for Personal Dosimeters; Recommendation on b -Radiation Dosimetry, Conversion Electron Radiation and Low-energy Photon Radiation in Nuclear Power Plants; and Requirements on Contamination Monitoring on Leaving a Controlled Area. A new Ordinance on the Recycling of Old Cars (Bundesgesetzblatt BGB1 I, pp 1666±1678, 10 July 1997) requires useless cars to be delivered to an authorized recycling company. The ordinance contains requirements on acceptance, recycling companies and shredders. The ordinance came into force on 5 July 1997. The 4th Ordinance to Supplement The Radiation Protection Ordinance (Bundesgesetzblatt BGB1 I, pp 2113±2114, 25 August 1997) adds the regulation to § 38 that the public must be informed about safety measures and correct behaviour in radiological emergency situations every ® ve years. The information must complement that of other authorities responsible for the protection of the public in emergency situations. The Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety has published a Recommendation of the Commission on Radiological Protection on `Interventional Radiology’ (Bundesanzeiger No. 138a, 29 July 1997, 15 pages). Interventional radiology is concerned with medical operations to correct pathological changes in patients. The operation is carried out by percutaneous access without opening of the body cavity, mostly under local anaesthesia. Interventional radiology has a lower invasivity and therefore a lower risk of morbidity and mortality compared with conventional operations. However, the radiological burden to patients and personnel is higher. X-rays are used to control the instruments of intervention(e.g. guide wires and balloon catheters). The German Commission on Radiological Protection has therefore published special recommendations on the limitation of radiation exposure, radiation protection and on documentation. A new publication on Minimal Requirements for Waste Water (Bundesanzeiger No. 150a, 14 August 1997, 46 pages) contains an introduction to the Waste Management Law (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz, published in Bundesgesetzblatt BGB1 I, pp 1695±1711, 18 November 1996), the Waste Water Charges Law (Abwasserabgabengesetz, published in BGB1 I, pp 3370±3376, 18 November 1994 and BGB1 I, pp 566±583, 25 March 1997, the Ordinance on Requirements of Waste Water for the Discharge into Waters, and the new appendices No. 1 on Domestic and Community Waste Water (depending on the amount of waste water 75±150 mg/l COD, 15±40 mg/l BOD, 10 mg/l NH4 -N, 1±2 mg/l P); No. 40 on Metal Treatment (depending on the type of treatment there are different limits for metal ions, COD and NH4 -N); No. 42 on Electrolysis and No. 48 on the Use of Certain Toxic Substances (in accordance with the Guidelines of the European Community 76/464/EWG, 83/ 513/EWG, 84/156/EWG, 84/491/EWG, 86/280/EWG, 87/ 217/EWG and 88/347/EWG). Manfred Laser
Trans IChemE, Vol 75, Part B, November 1997