Control of Major Accident Hazards COMAH

Several countries have regulations detailing requirements for process safety. Countries in Europe have adopted regulations in response to the European Union s Seveso Directives. The Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) regulation in the United Kingdom is one example. Brazil and Hong Kong have also... 

In the recent past the capital value of the physical plant normally dominated the balance sheet. Today a number of companies have to include a greater provision to cover the potential costs of remedying problems or liabilities, associated with the plant such as land contamination or problems associated with either the use or abuse of the product or byproducts. Whilst in certain well-publicised cases these costs are indeed very substantial, many other companies are blighted by the possibility of the costs. Much modem regulation, such as Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH), Integrated Pollution... 

SI 1984/1902 implementing the so-called Seveso Directive (Council directive 82/501/EEC of 24 June 1982 on the major-accident hazards of certain industrial activities) and now replaced by the Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/743) which in turn implement the Seveso 11 Directive (Council Directive 96/82/EC of 9 December 1996 on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances, as amended by Directive 2003/105/EC). 

Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations. 1999. SI 1999, No. 743, HMSO. 

Regulations such as the UK Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) regulations mandate that for major hazard facilities the public must be informed of the risks in advance. US right to know legislation, for example, does a similar thing. 

In the UK, the Seveso Directives led to the creation of the Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards (CIMAH) regulations in 1984. These regulations required manufacturers of hazardous chemicals to create a Safety Report— in effect a Safety Case. They also had to show how the hazards were being effectively managed. CIMAH was replaced by Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) in 1999. 

In many applications it is necessary to produce a safety case outline by the operator prior to developing a safety case. (Ref MHF regulation). MHF stands for major hazard facilities (such as oil refinery, chemical plants). MHF regulation is applicable for working in these facilities in Australia, and for working safe in these areas there are some obligations to be met with. In UK similar regulation is in place in the name of control of major accident hazards (COMAH). 

The technical work described in this paper was carried out in support of the Buncefield Standards Task Group (BSTG). The BSTG was formed soon after the Buncefield incident and consisted of representatives from industry and the joint Competent Authority for the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH). The aim of the task group was to translate the lessons from the incident into effective and practical guidance. 

Table 8 Is based on HSE s Guidance on ALARP decisions in control of major accident hazards (COMAH) SPC/Permissioning/12. Note that a scenario-based risk assessment with a single fatality is not the same as an Individual Risk calculation. 

The APIOOO design has also been reviewed against the requirements of the Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations (Reference 14.10). The Envirorunent Report shows that the APIOOO nuclear power plant site will be a lower tier COMAH site because of the proposed hydrazine inventory. The hydrazine tank has a maximum capacity of 1.1 tormes of hydrazine this is above the lower tier COMAH threshold of 0.5 tormes, but below the upper tier COMAH threshold of 2.0 tormes. 

A guide to the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 - COMAH - guidance on Regulations... 

In the United Kingdom this is covered by the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH), set up by the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) to implement the Seveso II directive of the EC (European Union) see www.hse.gov.uk. The COMAH regulations supersede the previous CIMAH (1984) regulations, set up under Seveso I. 

COMAH Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances (U.K., replaced CIMAH in 1999)... 

The concept of a safety case comes from the requirements of the European Union/European Community (EU/EC) Seveso Directive (82/501/EC) and, in particular, regulations that the United Kingdom and other member states used to implement that directive. United Kingdom regulations (Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards [CIMAH], 1984 replaced by Control of Major Accident Hazards Involving Dangerous Substances [COMAH] in 1999) require that major hazardous facilities produce a safety report or safety case.64 The requirement for a safety case is initiated by a list of chemicals and a class of flammables. Like the hazard analysis approach (Section 8.1.2), experts identify the reactive hazards of the process if analysis shows that the proposed process is safe, it may be excluded from additional regulatory requirements. 

CAPP CCPS CFR COMAH CSB Chemical Accident Prevention Program Center for Chemical Process Safety Code of Federal Regulations Control of Major Accident Hazards (U.K. HSE Regulation) U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board... 

Most credible initiating events and their fi equencies can be gathered either from the company s incidents library or from agencies such as CSB (Chemical Safety Board in US), CIMAH (Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards in US), COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards in UK), European Seveso H Directive and HSE (Health and Safety Executive in UK). 

Nowadays, the great emphasis is put on safety prevention in different fields of human activities. One of these fields is the preparedness for major accidents and/or prevention of them, including elaboration of safety documentation for facilities, in which dangerous substances are hold in amounts exceeding limits mentioned in Annex I of the Council Directive 96/82/ES of 9 December 1996, on the control of major accident hazards involving dangerous substances, so-called SEVESO II Directive or COMAH . This Directive is implemented in the Czech legislation as the Act No. 59/2006 CoU., with later amendments (hereinafter called law ) that was established for prevention or minimalization of accident effects on hiunan health, property and environment. 

Legal requirements for the production of on-site emergency plans for major hazard sites are laid down in the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (1999 (COMAH) (as amended by the Control of Major Accident Hazards (Amendment) Regulations 2005). 

For these top-tier establishments, specific guidance on the reasons for and constituents of the on-site emergency plan are given in Emergency planning for major accidents Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) HSG 191. 

Regulation 7 of the COMAH Regulations requires that top-tier COMAH establishments write a safety report. The safety report must include details of the on-site emergency plan arrangements, and must contain the information required to enable the local authority to write the off-site plan. Detailed requirements for what must be included are listed in Chapter 7 of Preparing safety reports Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) HSG 190. 2 ... 

This card is produced in accordance with the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations (COMAH) to advise you what to do in the unlikely event of a major accident on our premises that could affect you and people near you. 

COMAH Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations... 

The Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (COMAH) incorporate the requirements of an amended directive (Seveso 11) which, whilst similar to Seveso 1 and following the same two-tiered format for duties, differs in a number of important ways in that it ... 

The Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 (COMAH), The Stationery Office, London (1999) also The Health and Safety Executive, booklet no L 111, A Guide to the Control of Mlajor Accident Hazards Regulations, HSE Books, Sudbury (1999)... 

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